AI at the core: philanthropy fuels EMBL’s strategy
Grant and Award Announcement
Updates every hour. Last Updated: 24-Dec-2025 14:11 ET (24-Dec-2025 19:11 GMT/UTC)
EMBL’s AI Strategy aims to fundamentally transform life sciences research by comprehensively integrating artificial intelligence (AI). AI applications in life sciences include large-scale data analysis, protein prediction, biomarker discovery, image processing, and drug development. Funding from the German Hector Foundation will support key initiatives at EMBL, such as recruiting interdisciplinary talent, expanding AI infrastructure, and advancing training programmes.
After six years of intensive research and testing, the Rhisotope Project has officially reached operational status – where rhinos will effectively be protected through nuclear technology.
The project aims to disrupt the illegal rhino horn trade by embedding low-level radioactive isotopes into the horn. These radioisotopes can be detected by radiation detection equipment at countries borders around the world, allowing for the effective interception of trafficked horns.
Drug sensitivity analysis is crucial for precision cancer therapy. We developed CPADS, a web tool integrating transcriptomic data from 29,000+ samples (44 cancers, 288 drugs, 9,000+ gene perturbations). It enables differential expression, pathway, drug, and gene perturbation analyses with interactive visualization. CPADS aids researchers in exploring drug resistance mechanisms at gene/pathway levels. Access: https://smuonco.shinyapps.io/CPADS/ or https://robinl-lab.com/CPADS.
We are thrilled to announce the publication of our groundbreaking work in PLoS Computational Biology, introducing PESSA (Pathway Enrichment Score-based Survival Analysis) – a robust, user-friendly web platform designed to revolutionize cancer survival data analysis. PESSA uniquely integrates pathway enrichment status as a critical biomarker, offering oncologists and researchers unprecedented insights. Our platform boasts an expansive curated database of over 200 cancer datasets from leading sources (GEO, TCGA, EGA, and published literature), encompassing 51 cancer types, 13 distinct survival outcome measures, and over 13,000 tumor-relevant pathways. PESSA is meticulously designed to accelerate the discovery and validation of novel cancer-related pathway biomarkers. Access PESSA today at: https://smuonco.shinyapps.io/PESSA/ or http://robinl-lab.com/PESSA.
We developed THER, a web tool integrating 63 hypoxia-related tumor transcriptomic datasets, enabling differential expression, expression profiling, correlation, enrichment, and drug sensitivity analyses. It helps identify valuable biomarkers, further reveal the molecular mechanisms of tumor hypoxia, and identify effective drugs, thus providing a scientific basis for tumor diagnosis and treatment. Experimental verification showed hypoxia reduces tumor cell sensitivity to chemotherapy drugs. Accessible at https://smuonco.shinyapps.io/THER/.
Western University researchers have developed an innovative way to reconstruct how crickets sing, based on the physical formation of the chirping insects’ wings, using measurements from preserved samples and computational modelling.
Evolutionary plant biologists at the University of Toronto have identified a protein that evolved approximately 500 million years ago, enabling plants to convert light into energy through photosynthesis as they moved from aquatic environments to land. The discovery provides a target for sustainable herbicides against parasitic plants and other weeds and may help boost food security by increasing the efficiency of photosynthesis in crops.