In this episode, host Hannah Fry is joined by Max Jaderberg and Rebecca Paul of Isomorphic Labs to explore the future of drug discovery in the age of AI. They discuss how new technology, particularly AlphaFold 3, is revolutionizing the field by predicting the structure of life’s molecules, paving the way for faster and more efficient drug discovery.

They dig into the immense complexities of designing new drugs: How do you find the right molecular key for the right biological lock? How can AI help scientists understand disease better and overcome challenges like drug toxicity? And what about the diseases that are currently considered “undruggable”? Finally, they explore the ultimate impact of this technology, from the future of personalised medicine to the ambitious goal of being able to eventually design treatments for all diseases.

Further reading:

AlphaFold 3: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-024-07487-w
AlphaFold Server: https://alphafoldserver.com/
Isomorphic Labs: https://www.isomorphiclabs.com/
AlphaFold 3 code and weights: https://github.com/google-deepmind/alphafold3

Thanks to everyone who made this possible, including but not limited to:

Presenter: Professor Hannah Fry
Series Producer: Dan Hardoon
Editor: Rami Tzabar
Commissioner & Producer: Emma Yousif
Music composition: Eleni Shaw
Audio engineer: Richard Courtice
Production Manager: Dan Lazard
Studio Manager: Nicholas Duke
Video Director: Bernardo Resende
Video Editor: Bilal Merhi
Audio Engineer: Perry Rogantin
Camera and Lighting Operator: Robert Messere
Production Coordination: Zoey Roberts, Sarah Ellen Morton
Visual Identity and Design: Rob Ashley
Commissioned by Google DeepMind

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