Ginkgo Datapoints has launched the Virtual Cell Pharmacology Initiative (VCPI), an open-source effort to create the first standardized framework for virtual cell modeling in drug discovery. By offering free high-throughput RNA profiling and building a shared reference cell line, VCPI aims to generate more than 12 billion high-quality pharmacology data points and test at least 100,000 compounds. The initiative invites researchers and companies to contribute compounds, shape dataset priorities, and accelerate the development of predictive AI models for drug discovery.

Any plan to send a human crew to explore Moon or Mars requires many tons of propellant to blast off from Moon or Mars for return to Earth. Two propellants are needed: (a) a fuel, typically either methane or hydrogen, and (b) oxygen. Oxygen represents the greatest mass of propellant, and in situ propellant production (ISPP) for oxygen only would provide a significant mass saving. Lunar and Martian ISPP processes range widely in complexity and degree of difficulty, with equally wide ranges in risk and apparent return on investment (ROI). Moreover, operating autonomous chemical engineering plants on remote bodies, in some cases involving mining, transporting, delivering, discharging, and processing planetary soil under severe environmental conditions, presents significant challenges. Difficulty in providing power compounds the problems. Therefore, it is important to distinguish between autonomous processes that are simple and straightforward to implement that lend themselves naturally to first landings versus processes that are complex and challenging and, because of that, likely to be relegated to second-generation or even third-generation landings, if at all.

Scientists from the University of Groningen in the Netherlands have developed a soft polymer hydrogel that can conduct electricity as well as metal can. This finding has the potential for a large numbers of applications, for example in biocompatible sensors and in wound healing.

Researchers have developed a new algorithm that combines two processes for personalizing robotic prosthetic devices to both optimize the movement of the prosthetic limb and – for the first time – also help a human user’s body engage in a more natural walking pattern. The new approach can be used to help restore and maintain various aspects of user movement, with the goal of addressing health challenges associated with an amputation.

Paper packaging is a sustainable alternative to plastic. However, as it is permeable to air, food packaged in paper loses its flavour over time, and undesirable substances such as solvents can penetrate the packaging. Up to now, extensive tests were necessary for each type of paper to determine to what extent and how quickly this happens. A research team led by Karin Zojer from the Institute of Solid State Physics at Graz University of Technology (TU Graz) has now developed an AI-based prediction system that calculates how permeable different types of paper are to volatile organic substances. This significantly speeds up the development of new packaging materials. The prediction tool, which was developed as part of the CD Laboratory for Mass Transport through Paper, is already being used by a paper manufacturer.