Kat

building @muni_bio

AI ∩ bio | in vitro to in silico, always an experimenter

[Kat @katyenko]

Binding is nice, but it’s getting boring. If you’re not thinking about biological function, you’re ngmi.

At our last @muni_bio hackathon co-hosted with @onepot_ai, we set one ambitious goal: neutralize the latest threat of Ebola using small molecules.

The wet lab data is in, and we’re excited to announce that teams were successful, including our agent that repurposed... an anti-itch gel?

https://t.co/u719o2MOLV

[Kat @katyenko]

@rushank_goyal @001TMF awesome having you both there!

[Kat @katyenko]

@emmamariecryer @OpenRouter @muni_bio <3 appreciate the constant support from you and OpenRouter!

[Emma @emmamariecryer]

coolest email i have gotten since starting at @OpenRouter:

"the compute you sponsored helped identify hits against Bundibugyo ebolavirus in our assays"

you check out what @katyenko and her team were able to accomplish here: https://t.co/NL3hrTFYyc

[Gabriele Corso @GabriCorso]

Great to see teams using the Boltz API at the Ebolathon successfully designing novel molecules! 140 molecules tested, 11 selective hits in Ebola pseudovirus assays. Exciting to see hackathon ideas turn into experimental results! 🧪 https://t.co/DoQ6aiDE3x

[Kat @katyenko]

@BigwetRealism @muni_bio @onepot_ai many such cases :(

[Kat @katyenko]

Binding is nice, but it’s getting boring. If you’re not thinking about biological function, you’re ngmi.

At our last @muni_bio hackathon co-hosted with @onepot_ai, we set one ambitious goal: neutralize the latest threat of Ebola using small molecules.

The wet lab data is in, and we’re excited to announce that teams were successful, including our agent that repurposed... an anti-itch gel?

https://t.co/u719o2MOLV

[Kat @katyenko]

@Cas9Bandit thanks for coming & glad to have you there!

[Kat @katyenko]

@derekalia us

[Derek Alia @derekalia]

The factorioization of biology is happening.

Expect faster/cheaper experimental validation and more novel drugs developed at a fraction of todays cost.

My sense is that many people inside the drug development industry are further behind in understanding what's becoming possible than those on the outside looking in. Which leads to an interesting arbitrage, bound purely by ambition.

Teams that embrace agentic workflows will soon look like an entirely different species of biotech, one that the old guard will struggle to comprehend.

Some will interpret this negatively as the removal of human creativity from biological research, my view is opposite. I think this gives people with deep biological insight far more leverage. Freeing them from the tedious, repetitive work that consumes most of their context.

Exciting times.

[Modal @modal]

In July, @muni_bio and @onepot_ai co-hosted Ebolathon to find small molecules that could block Bundibugyo ebolavirus from entering cells without harming the cells themselves.

Teams designed 140 molecules in just one Saturday in San Francisco. All were synthesized in 11 lab days, followed by 22 lab days of testing. The results are in: 26 of the 140 molecules were preliminary hits—an 18.6% hit rate.

In part, powered by Modal.

[Kat @katyenko]

@CorinWagen a first principles thinker

[Kat @katyenko]

A huge thank you to @PostHog for hosting us, and to @RowanSci, @boltz_bio, @modal, @OpenRouter, and @anyscalecompute for the computational resources and support throughout. Also, @derekalia, @daniil_boiko, @andrei_tyrin, & @CorinWagen for making this happen.

And to everyone who spent their Saturday designing molecules with us. Getting to share the lab results is the best part :)

Mission complete: https://t.co/1xyChtUbi6

[Kat @katyenko]

EBOLATHON - the ultimate rapid-response challenge against viral threats.

8 hours to generate and submit compounds to test against Bundibugyo Ebola strain with wet-lab validation.

Join us in SF on July 18th: https://t.co/hUe2rUQyUv

Hosted by @muni_bio & @onepot_ai

[Kat @katyenko]

The next drug discovery team will be a few scientists, a team of agents, and a network of CROs. This is the world we’re building with muni (https://t.co/k2oKP90js4).


As models more accurately predict binders, the question becomes, “does this binder actually do what we want?”

Cost and speed of function, ADME, PK and tox assays will set the pace of discovery. We’re betting that early and iterative work will go to CROs that are fast, rigorous, and transparent, and ready to work with agents. A solo drug hunter should be able to run a program without building an entire lab. h/t @Prof_Oak_ for leading the charge.

[Kat @katyenko]

Lack of traceability in clinical trials is unfortunate! Makes me wonder what proportion of research $ is spent on inefficiencies (ie redoing the same experiments, pulling on false threads, etc). Hard to quantify this if the reasons in https://t.co/4S6WtoTn8e don't corroborate with traced failures / sometimes there are no documented reasons :\

[Patrick Collison @patrickc]

A2A payments will be more important than P2P payments.

[Kat @katyenko]

expect more of this

[max doppelt @maxdoppelt]

In January 2025 my mom’s lung cancer spread to her brain. The drug with the best chance of helping her was approved in China but not here.

A doctor told me, almost as an aside, that if she were Chinese she could buy it at a pharmacy.

So I flew to Shanghai and came home with 26 boxes in my luggage. That was 19 months ago. My mom is still here, still working, and in her words has had an amazing three years.

The drug was approved in China in 2023. The FDA approved it in July 2025. It still is not for sale here. I know of at least 30 Americans who have made the same trip.

I have been scared to tell this story because I worried it could cost my mom access to the medicine keeping her alive. But the problem matters more than my silence. These drugs need to be developed and available here, and that means FDA reform.

Art Allen at KFF Health News told our story this week. It also ran in The Washington Post.
https://t.co/tHKV3L004L

[Tim Duignan @TimothyDuignan]

Force fields and folding models finally merging, nice

[Kat @katyenko]

@ashokaraj_ congrats @ashokaraj_ !!!