AI vs Aging: Why Wormbot-AI is the secret weapon against disease | 29 - Mitchell Lee
No single discipline or approach holds the key to making big strides in the longevity field. Human aging is incredibly complex, and we're going to need multiple shots on goal in our pursuit of human life- and healthspan extension. At the Optispan Podcast, we're always excited to learn about the various angles researchers and founders are taking to advance our understanding of longevity and get impactful therapeutics that will transform human health into the clinic.
In this episode, Ora Biomedical CEO and cofounder Mitchell Lee gives us the lowdown on doing high-throughput drug discovery using a combination of worms, robotics, AI, and the general public. Matt and Mitchell talk about the company's ambitious goal to create the world's largest and most rigorous database of longevity interventions, and how a new robotics and AI data analysis platform is helping the company get there. They discuss the state of drug discovery in the longevity field, whether we can really believe any data we get from worms, the intervention that killed all their worms in one day, and more.
Prior to cofounding Ora Biomedical, Mitchell spent his career focused on scientific research and mentorship, mentoring nearly 50 trainee researchers of all levels during his graduate and postdoctoral research periods. He was the founding Chair of the American Aging Association (AGE) trainee chapter, which offers early-career financial, career development, and networking benefits, and has served on the AGE Executive Committee and Board of Directors. Mitchell received a B.S. in biology, a B.A. in philosophy, and an M.S. in biology from Western Washington University. He completed his PhD in Experimental Pathology at the University of Washington School of Medicine, during which time he received a Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI) Gilliam Fellowship for Advanced Study.
Matt is a cofounder and Chair of the Board of Directors of Ora Biomedical.
Check out the links below for further information and/or reading about some of the things we discussed in this podcast episode. Note that we do not necessarily endorse or agree with the content of these readings, but present them as supplementary material that may deepen your understanding of the topic after you listen to our podcast. This list is in no way exhaustive, but it’s a good start!
WormBot: A high-throughput system for studying aging in C. elegans
This animation explains the mechanics of the WormBot-AI platform in a clear and accessible way.
In this article, Mitchell, Matt, and their colleagues propose the Million Molecule Challenge, a plan to screen one million interventions in C. elegans, a nematode worm, for their effects on longevity. They describe their reasoning for using C. elegans as a model organism as well as the WormBot-AI robotics platform they have developed to facilitate this high-throughput screening. They also present a proof-of-principle screen of 1,266 compounds that they completed in one month using their WormBot-AI technology.
The Million Molecule Challenge for Life Extension - Matt Kaeberlein at Longevity Summit Dublin
Matt spoke at the Longevity Summit Dublin 2023, a gathering of researchers, founders, and other leaders in the longevity field, about moving longevity science into clinical practice, how close we are to "solving aging", and what we need to make an impact in the field. About halfway through the talk, he talks about the Million Molecule Challenge: why C. elegans are a reasonable model organism with which to study aging, how much of the intervention space we have explored, and why we need a Million Molecule Challenge at all. He also presents a time-lapse video of the WormBot-AI technology, an AI and robotics platform for studying the effect of interventions on C. elegans, in action.
Using C. elegans for aging research
This short article reviews the history of using C. elegans in geroscience research. It also discusses several reasons that C. elegans is a suitable model organism for studying aging, such as cost, short lifespans, and evolutionary conserved lifespan pathways; as well as the disadvantages of using C. elegans in geroscience research, including a lack of complexity in the organism and limits to biochemistry due to the worms' small size.
Rise of the WormBots: it’s time to scale up longevity R&D
Longevity.technology profiled Ora Biomedical and interviewed Mitchell about the company's development strategy, scale of operations, and plans for the future. Mitchell describes his aim to get from longevity biotech 1.0 to longevity biotech 2.0: "discovering the next generation, most efficacious interventions".
