Google invests millions in Mark Zuckerberg’s efforts to create a ‘virtual cell’

Google DeepMind, Meta, and Isomorphic Labs are jointly backing a $300 million initiative to create a computational model of a living cell. The project is led by Biohub, a nonprofit biomedical research organization.

The "virtual cell" concept aims to simulate cellular behavior at scale, giving researchers a powerful tool to understand disease mechanisms and test interventions digitally before moving to wet-lab experiments.

For the AI industry, the collaboration signals a deepening push into drug discovery and computational biology. DeepMind and Isomorphic Labs bring protein-structure expertise from AlphaFold, while Meta contributes large-scale ML capabilities.

The effort could accelerate biomedical research by reducing reliance on slow, costly physical experiments. If successful, AI-driven cell models may become foundational infrastructure for therapeutic development across the life sciences.

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