Randy Schekman on Why AI Changes Everything in Biology скачать в хорошем качестве

Randy Schekman on Why AI Changes Everything in Biology

In this conversation with Maddy Tao for the SAIR Foundation, Randy Schekman — Nobel Prize winner in Physiology or Medicine, cell biologist at UC Berkeley, and Founding Advisory Board Member of SAIR — takes us on one of the most remarkable journeys in modern science. From a $100 secondhand microscope purchased with babysitting money, to discoveries that reshaped our understanding of how every cell in the human body works, Randy's story is a masterclass in what happens when curiosity is given room to run. Randy Schekman shared the 2013 Nobel Prize for his ground-breaking work on vesicle trafficking — uncovering the molecular machinery that cells use to transport and secrete proteins. What began as a seemingly simple experiment in baker's yeast turned into a 30-year blueprint that explained everything from how the brain communicates with itself, to how the pancreas secretes insulin. One-third of the world's supply of human recombinant insulin is now made possible by that work. But Randy isn't just a scientist. He's a fierce advocate for the future of scientific communication — and a vocal critic of the commercial publishing industry that he believes is undermining the integrity of science itself. He helped launch eLife, one of the most ambitious open-access journals in the world, and pulls no punches on why the profit motives of publishers like Elsevier and Springer Nature represent a genuine threat to how knowledge is shared and trusted. And when it comes to AI? Randy sees it as nothing short of a giant sandbox — where tools like AlphaFold have already transformed how researchers study proteins, and where the next frontier involves using AI to hallucinate entirely new molecules that have never existed in nature. This is a conversation about a life in science, the responsibility that comes with discovery, and why the intersection of AI and biology may be the most exciting place on Earth right now. In this conversation: The childhood microscope that sparked a Nobel Prize-winning career How baker's yeast became the blueprint for understanding human cell biology The discovery of secretory pathway genes and their unexpected application in insulin manufacturing Why commercial publishers are a threat to the integrity of scientific communication The transformative impact of AlphaFold and AI-driven protein structure prediction How AI is enabling scientists to design molecules that have never existed in nature Why open access publishing is a moral imperative — and the fight to make it a reality The role SAIR can play in keeping science honest, open, and focused on humanity's biggest problems