A new startup is betting that artificial intelligence can help build a kind of medicine that nature doesn't normally make.
According to Endpoints News, Abiologics — a company founded by the life science venture firm Flagship Pioneering — says it has successfully used AI to create proteins assembled from mirror-image building blocks. The company shared the news with Endpoints News.
To understand why that's notable, it helps to know that the molecular components of life tend to come in a single "handedness," much like left and right gloves. Most natural proteins are made from building blocks of one orientation. Abiologics is using AI to design proteins from the mirrored versions instead.
The potential payoff, per Endpoints News, is more durable drugs. Proteins are powerful as therapies but can be fragile inside the body. Building them from mirror-image parts could make them harder for the body to break down, which is one of the long-standing challenges in turning protein-based science into practical medicines.
The reporting positions this as an early-stage effort: Abiologics says it has demonstrated the AI-driven design approach, with the goal of eventually producing new drugs. Endpoints News frames the work as a step toward that goal rather than a finished product on the market.
Why it matters: if AI can reliably design mirror-image proteins that hold up better in the body, it could expand the toolkit for making protein drugs that last longer and work more effectively — a meaningful prize in an industry constantly searching for sturdier, more effective medicines.