Measuring Frontier Technology in Synthetic Biology

We study how AI lowers barriers to biology in the physical world
Liquid-handling robot running an automated molecular biology assay in the Active Site lab.
Research
Measuring Mid-2025 LLM-Assistance on Novice Performance in Biology

We conducted the largest and longest in-person randomized controlled trial in AIxBio to assess whether frontier AI enhances novices in molecular biology

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Inverted Kaplan-Meier curve of cumulative cell-culture success over time. Novices in the AI-access arm successfully cultured HEK293T cells six days earlier than the internet-access arm.
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Scanning electron microscope image of rod-shaped E. coli bacteria.
ABOUT ACTIVE SITE

What We Do

Human Studies

We conduct in-person trials to measure the impact of frontier AI in the wet lab.

Automation

We evaluate AI agents performing complex robotics and laboratory automation tasks.