Programming Biology

How Basecamp Research is Using AI to Transform Medicine – Part 1

What if one of the biggest barriers to medical innovation isn’t a lack of computing power or scientific talent, but the fact that we still know so little about life itself?

That is the question at the heart of Basecamp Research, one of the UK’s most ambitious biotechnology companies. In the latest episode of Brands Transforming Our World, Giles Fraser and Rory Cellan-Jones sit down with co-founders Glen Gowers and Oliver Vince to discuss how they are combining AI, biology and exploration to tackle some of healthcare’s biggest challenges.

Basecamp Research’s mission is built on the idea that most life on Earth remains undiscovered, and that unlocking hidden biological data could transform medicine. After an expedition to Iceland and a DNA sequencing lab in a tent, Glen and Oliver founded a company building large-scale AI models trained on one of the world’s richest biological datasets.

In part one of this episode we cover:

• Why AI in biology is only as powerful as the data it’s trained on
• How large language models can learn the language of DNA
• The opportunity for the UK to lead the next wave of AI-driven scientific innovation

Listen on Spotify, Apple Podcast, and wherever you get your podcasts. Much more to come in part two!

Each month, Giles Fraser and Rory Cellan-Jones quiz a different tech industry leader. We hear their personal stories, what it takes to run the world’s most innovative companies, and how these brands are transforming our world.