Google DeepMind, Meta back Biohub's $1.8B 'virtual cell' effort
Scobleizer · x · 2026-10-08
Google DeepMind, Meta, and Isomorphic Labs are backing Biohub's $1.8B effort to build a "virtual cell," with the Department of Energy and NIH also involved.
The idea: let scientists test how a cell might respond to a potential treatment in silico, then bring only the most promising candidates to the lab. That requires far more data on how cells actually behave, which the partnership aims to build.
Computer predictions still must hold up in real biology, but faster in-silico screening could meaningfully accelerate which ideas deserve a closer look — potentially for patients waiting on treatments that don't exist yet.
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