It’s no secret that everyone from medical professionals to scientists is making it their life's work to find a cure for cancer. And even when they fall short, these people share the common goal of bringing more hope to cancer patients.
Some types of cancer, such as glioblastoma, are deadlier than others.
“The five-year survival rate for glioblastoma patients is only 6.8%, and the average length of survival for glioblastoma patients is estimated to be only eight months,” according to the National Brain Tumor Society.
Even worse is the fact that survival and mortality rates have been unchanged for many years. But if two high school students — Andrea Olsen, 18, from Oslo, Norway, and Zachary Harpaz, 16, from Fort Lauderdale, Florida — have anything to say about it, glioblastoma patients will soon have another tool on their side. And that tool is artificial intelligence (AI).
AI Is Taking On Glioblastoma
The two ambitious high school students partnered with Insilico Medicine, a medical technology company, and its artificial intelligence platform PandaOmics to identify three new target genes linked to glioblastoma. With this discovery, they’re now turning their attention to how to best combat this deadly form of brain cancer.
It all started in 2021 when Olsen worked as an intern at Insilico Medicine. It was then that she learned how to use AI as a way to uncover new treatments for cancer.
While Olsen was using AI on one side of the globe, Harpaz was in Florida doing much of the same. He chose to learn more about glioblastoma because a childhood friend was diagnosed with the disease.
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In a recent interview with Fox News Digital, Harpaz touched on his thoughts on AI.
"I saw how long studies like these take — in the lab, target discoveries can take five years — and I thought to myself, 'There's definitely a way to use artificial intelligence to speed up the study and also make an impact as a high schooler.’”
After connecting with Olsen, the two collaborated and eventually discovered three new target brain tumor genes: CNGA3, GLUD1 and SIRT1.
These genes are crucial to effectively fighting the disease, as they’re the areas that cancer drugs target.
"Basically, a target is some driving factor for a cancer or a different disease, where if you can inhibit it or turn it on or off, you can stop the cancer growth and cure the disease,” Harpaz said.
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AI Will Play A Major Role In The Future Of Medicine
Dr. Alex Zhavoronkov, CEO of Insilico Medicine, is excited about the future of generative AI and its ability to identify therapeutic targets.
“It finds these new disease targets by analyzing trillions of data points, including human biological data and data from scientific publications, clinical trials and grant applications,” he said.
"It scores the targets on factors like novelty (how unique is it?), druggability (can it be easily drugged?) and safety — so scientists know immediately which targets are best to pursue."
In addition to its work in the cancer field, Insilico is also developing 30-plus AI-designed drugs.
Invest in the Next Generation of Future Technology
For investors looking to fund the next generation of innovative startups looking to change peoples lives, thanks to changes in federal law, investors have options. Investing in startups isn’t like buying a stake in Apple or Microsoft. The cash from the investment goes straight to the startup, helping them stay afloat and grow. This means a relatively small investment can have a huge impact for these startups.
For investors looking to get involved, platforms like StartEngine allow anyone to invest in new and innovative startups, including investing in StartEngine itself.
See more on startup investing from Benzinga.
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