UAE – Mohamed bin Zayed University of Artificial Intelligence (MBZUAI) and BioMap, a disruptive super-scale AI model-powered life science platform, have teamed up to establish a joint biocomputing lab in the Middle East.
MBZUAI, a world-leading artificial intelligence research institution, and Carli onia-based BioMap have entered into a strategic collaboration agreement to promote sustainable development and human health across the Gulf region.
The signing ceremony was presided over by Jiarun Qu, Vice President of Strategic Development of BioMap, and Dr. Kun Zhang from the Mohamed bin Zayed University (MBZUAI).
The joint statement said: “The two parties will focus on driving breakthroughs in AI-generated proteins (AIGP) by prioritizing the Middle East’s extensive needs in medical health, drug design, energy, and environmental protection.”
Upon completion of the project, the joint laboratory will be the first biocomputing innovation research laboratory in the Middle East.
The biocomputing unit will conduct research in two key areas: the de novo design of oil degradation enzymes, and mining for potential drug targets for the treatment of aging-related and rare diseases.
MBZUAI and BioMap have already introduced their collaboration roadmap for establishing the joint laboratory.
At the same time, BioMap shared the technical progress made with its world-leading cross-modal bio-computing model, “xTrimo (Cross-modal Transformer Representation of Interactome and Multi-Omics)”, and its strategic development plan for the region.
“xTrimo models how proteins, cells, and complex biological systems work together, allowing downstream models to learn the operating laws of biological systems and analyze how proteins interact with each other and with cells in the human body,” the companies stated.
The cross-modal life science model system is capable of predicting and generating new proteins that can perform targeted interventions and treatments on cells and the human body to address specific needs.
Harnessing BioMap’s xTrimo model system, the two parties aim to explore new technologies to advance large-scale life science models in protein generation, protein structure prediction, cell function prediction, and other life science tasks.
In addition, the two parties will utilize large-scale AI models and multi-omics pre-training to accelerate the discovery of drug targets for aging-related diseases, enabling the development of personalized treatments.
The strategic deal is part of MBZUAI ‘s ongoing efforts to educate and develop top talent, foster an innovation ecosystem, and act as a strategic think tank for the public and private sectors.
In January 2023, Mohamed bin Zayed University of Artificial Intelligence joined forces with Quris, an artificial intelligence (AI) innovator in the pharmaceutical arena, to develop a centre of excellence in Bio-AI in Abu Dhabi.
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