Genetic engineers have methods to direct the evolution of molecules in the laboratory, but testability is generally limited. And even proteins of normal length can be altered in almost infinite ways (because proteins are made up of hundreds of amino acids, and each acid has 20 possible variants).
But OpenAI’s models often suggest that as many as a third of the protein’s amino acids have changed.
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“We immediately put this model into the lab and got real results,” says Joe Betts-Lacroix, CEO of Retro. He says the model’s ideas are exceptionally good, yielding results that are an improvement over the original Yamanaka factor in a significant number of cases.
Vadim Gladyshev, an aging researcher at Harvard University who consults with Retro, says we need better ways to create stem cells. “It will be very useful for us. “(Skin cells) are easy to reprogram, but other cells are not,” he says. “And doing that in a new species is often extremely different and you gain nothing.”
As is the case with AI models, it is not yet clear how exactly GPT-4b arrives at its guess. “It’s similar to when AlphaGo beat the best human at Go, but it took us a long time to figure out why,” says Betts-Lacroix. “We’re still figuring out what it is, and I think how we apply it is just scratching the surface.”
OpenAI says no money changes hands in collaboration. But the announcement could add to the questions swirling around the OpenAI CEO’s side project, as the work could benefit Retro, of which Altman is its largest investor.
Last year wall street journal It said Altman’s extensive investments in private technology startups amount to an “opaque investment empire” that “increases the list of potential conflicts” because some of these companies also do business with OpenAI.
For Retro, simply partnering with Altman, OpenAI, and Race Towards AGI will help raise awareness and increase our ability to hire staff and raise funds. Betts-Lacroix did not respond to questions about whether the early-stage company is currently in fundraising mode.
OpenAI says Altman was not directly involved in its work and does not make decisions based on Altman’s other investments.
