Gen Li

Computational Biology; BME; @UofT

[Bo Wang @BoWang87]

How can generative AI and Robotics help advance drug discovery？

🚀 Excited to introduce LUMI-lab!
A foundation model-driven Self-Driving Lab (SDL) for autonomous ionizable lipid discovery in mRNA delivery 🤖🔍

🔬 What is LUMI-lab?
LUMI-lab integrates molecular foundation models with autonomous robotic experiments to efficiently explore new LNPs (lipid nanoparticles, mRNA delivery vehicles) with minimal wet-lab data.

🔥 Key Highlights:
- 🧠 Foundation model trained on 28M molecules using a three-step strategy:
- Unsupervised pretraining to capture broad molecular knowledge
- Continual pretraining to specialize in lipid-like molecules
- Active learning fine-tuning within a closed-loop experimental system
- 🤖 1,700+ new LNPs synthesized & tested across 10 iterative cycles
- 🧪 Brominated lipids autonomously identified as a novel structural feature that enhances mRNA transfection—an insight previously unrecognized in LNP design
- 🏆 20.3% in vivo CRISPR gene editing efficiency in lung epithelial cells—the highest reported for inhaled LNPs

🚀 Why it matters?
LNPs are the backbone of mRNA therapeutics, yet discovery has been slow due to data scarcity. LUMI-lab shows that AI-powered autonomous labs can accelerate mRNA delivery innovation🚀💡

🌐 Beyond mRNA drugs, LUMI-lab exemplifies a scalable framework for AI-driven molecular discovery, pushing boundaries in material science & drug delivery.

📜 Read the preprint: 🔗 https://t.co/bezIekapkn
💻 Code available on GitHub: 🔗 https://t.co/g1Cah59BuR

#AI #DrugDiscovery #mRNA #LNP #SyntheticBiology

🙏 A huge team effort behind this work, with special appreciation to @BowenLi_Lab for driving the project. Kudos to @HAOTIANCUI1, @YueXu1995, @KKuanPang, @Gen_Li_Reagan, and @GongFangli36418!