MAKE – Designing Life with AI

Overview

The Designing Life with AI initiative offers undergraduate and Master’s degree students a unique opportunity to experience research at the interface of artificial intelligence, protein engineering, and synthetic biology. In this program, students design, model, and experimentally test novel proteins using AI-based computational tools, biophysics, and wet-lab methods.

Facts:

  • About 30 students
  • Teams of 1-4 students
  • 8 professors
  • 3 sponsors
  • 3 research articles so far

Each group begins by identifying a protein design challenge, for example, a binder, a biosensor, or an integrator-and-effector protein that responds to multiple inputs. Students then conceptualize a strategy, use state-of-the-art AI design platforms and biophysics to generate and analyze protein candidates, and finally implement their designs through synthetic biology experiments in the lab.

This initiative emphasizes independent thinking and full-cycle research training. Students learn how to:

  • Conceptualize projects and formulate hypotheses,
  • Use and develop AI-based protein design methods,
  • Design and execute experiments,
  • Interpret data, and
  • Communicate results.

Several projects have already led to published papers and notable successes, demonstrating the creativity, intellectual capability, and perseverance of our students.

Beyond technical skills, participants gain a real understanding of what it means to be a researcher — how to navigate uncertainty, collaborate effectively, and bring an idea from concept to completion. Important additional benefits are strong letters of recommendation, connections to industry partners, and a pathway to future graduate research.

Designing Life with AI thus serves as both a training ground and incubator for the next generation of scientists, engineers, and innovators working to merge computation and biology in transformative ways.

For more information about our current and past projects, open projects for new students, team members, news, or how to join us, please visit our website:

https://www.designinglifewithai.ch/

Donors and sponsors

Our projects are made possible and grow thanks to the generosity of our donors and sponsors, whose ongoing support makes all the difference!

Fondazione Gustav & Ruth Jacob

IBI – EPFL

Interesting articles for inspiration

AI tools for protein design

Proteins that switch conformation

Proteins for biological materials

Proteins as food (precision fermentation)

Enzymes for green energy

Antibodies and binders

GPCRs

Prions and amyloids

Aging

Proteins for logical operations

Proteins for agriculture