Maurizio Morri – Science Blog

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  • Mount Etna’s June 2025 Eruption: A Spectacular Yet Expected Display

    On June 2, 2025, Mount Etna, Europe’s most active volcano, erupted once again, captivating onlookers with a dramatic display of nature’s power. The eruption sent a massive plume of ash and smoke into the sky, prompting evacuations and raising concerns among tourists and locals alike. However, for those familiar with Etna’s behavior, such events are part of the volcano’s regular activity.

    The Eruption Event

    The eruption began around 10 a.m. local time, originating from the volcano’s southeast crater. It featured explosive activity, including lava fountains and pyroclastic flows—fast-moving currents of hot gas and volcanic matter. A significant ash cloud rose approximately 21,300 feet into the atmosphere, nearly twice the volcano’s height, and released substantial sulfur dioxide, contributing to volcanic smog with potential health risks. Despite the dramatic visuals and the temporary closure of nearby tourist trails, there were no reported injuries or significant damage. Flights in the region experienced minimal disruptions, and local authorities quickly implemented safety measures.

    Understanding Etna’s Activity

    Mount Etna’s frequent eruptions are a result of its unique geological positioning. Situated at the convergence of the African and Eurasian tectonic plates, the volcano is in a state of almost constant activity. This continuous movement allows magma to rise to the surface regularly, leading to frequent eruptions. Unlike some other volcanoes that have long periods of dormancy followed by catastrophic eruptions, Etna’s consistent activity often results in less violent outbursts.

    The June 2025 eruption, while visually impressive, aligns with Etna’s typical behavior. Its ongoing activity is closely monitored by volcanologists, ensuring that any potential threats to nearby communities are identified promptly. This vigilance allows for timely evacuations and minimal disruption to daily life in the surrounding areas.

    A Natural Spectacle

    While the eruption may have startled tourists and garnered international media attention, it’s essential to recognize that such events are part of Mount Etna’s natural cycle. The volcano has been erupting for hundreds of thousands of years, shaping the landscape of Sicily and contributing to the region’s rich soil and biodiversity. For locals, Etna’s eruptions are a familiar occurrence, and the community has adapted to coexist with this dynamic natural feature.

    In conclusion, Mount Etna’s June 2025 eruption serves as a reminder of the Earth’s ever-changing nature. While it may cause temporary disruptions, it’s a testament to the planet’s geological vitality and the resilience of the communities that thrive in its shadow.

    For more detailed information on the eruption, you can refer to the following sources:

  • Is Regeneron’s Acquisition of 23andMe a Turning Point for Consumer Genomics?

    Regeneron Pharmaceuticals has agreed to acquire the bankrupt genetic testing company 23andMe for 256 million dollars, signaling a significant shift in the consumer genomics landscape. The deal, finalized through a court-supervised auction, is expected to close in the third quarter of 2025, pending regulatory approvals.

    Under the agreement, Regeneron will acquire 23andMe’s core assets, including its Personal Genome Service, Total Health and Research Services, and a biobank containing genetic data from over 15 million users. Notably, the acquisition excludes 23andMe’s telehealth subsidiary, Lemonaid Health, which is set to be discontinued. 

    The acquisition comes after 23andMe filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in March 2025, following a decline in consumer demand and a significant data breach in 2023 that compromised sensitive genetic information of millions of customers. 

    Regeneron has pledged to uphold 23andMe’s existing privacy policies and comply with all applicable data protection laws. To address privacy concerns, a court-appointed independent overseer will assess the implications of the deal for consumer privacy, with findings to be reviewed by the court on June 17. 

    This acquisition marks a pivotal moment in the integration of consumer genetic data into pharmaceutical research, potentially accelerating the development of personalized medicine. However, it also raises important questions about data privacy and the ethical use of genetic information.

    For more details, you can read the full articles here:

    https://www.reuters.com/business/healthcare-pharmaceuticals/regeneron-buy-bankrupt-genetic-testing-firm-23andme-256-million-2025-05-19/

    https://www.ft.com/content/362bcad4-8f4a-42b4-ab86-38821d74352f

    https://www.nypost.com/2025/05/19/business/regeneron-pharmaceuticals-to-buy-23andme-and-its-genetic-data-for-256-million/

  • Can Targeting Brachyury Unlock New Treatments for Rare and Metastatic Cancers?

    A recent breakthrough from the Institute of Cancer Research in London could mark a turning point in how scientists approach some of the most difficult cancers. Led by professor Paul Workman, researchers have discovered a way to potentially drug a protein called brachyury, a target long considered out of reach.

    Brachyury plays a critical role in a rare type of cancer known as chordoma, which affects the spine and base of the skull. These tumors are notoriously hard to treat, often recurring after surgery and showing poor response to traditional therapies. For years, researchers believed that brachyury could not be targeted by drugs because of its structure and location inside the cell.

    That view is now changing. Using the UK’s Diamond Light Source synchrotron, Workman’s team was able to map precise pockets on the surface of brachyury. These pockets can potentially bind with small molecules, opening the possibility of developing drugs that interfere with the protein’s activity and disrupt the survival of cancer cells.

    This is more than just a promising lead for chordoma. Brachyury is also active in several types of metastatic cancer, where it is linked to invasion, resistance, and poor outcomes. If the new findings lead to a working drug, the impact could extend far beyond one disease.

    You can read the full article here:

    https://www.theguardian.com/science/2025/feb/15/british-professor-paul-workman-cancer-breakthrough-chordoma

    The work is still at an early stage but it reflects a renewed focus in biotech on tackling tough, overlooked targets with the right tools and deep structural insights. This is where real progress happens — slowly, precisely, and with lasting consequences.

  • Is Biotech Entering a New Era of Drug Discovery?

    While artificial intelligence gets much of the attention, a wave of innovation in biotechnology is quietly reshaping the future of medicine. From groundbreaking Alzheimer’s treatments to novel gene editing strategies, biotech companies are pushing forward with fresh approaches that promise to change how we discover and develop new drugs.

    In Australia, the company Actinogen Medical is advancing a new once-a-day pill called Xanamem, designed to target cortisol, the stress hormone linked to memory loss and cognitive decline. Unlike many current treatments, Xanamem aims to address the root biological causes of Alzheimer’s disease. The World Health Organization recently recognized it as a first in class drug. So far, over four hundred people have received the treatment, showing promising improvements in memory, focus, and mood. A new trial involving two hundred twenty participants is underway in both Australia and the United States, with the goal of gaining full regulatory approval.

    You can read the full story here:

    https://www.couriermail.com.au/lifestyle/alzheimers-wonder-drug-onceaday-pill-could-halt-disease/news-story/dd50d2159e823f543dbe297b3b329005

    Meanwhile, UK-based Basecamp Research is exploring a completely different path. By collecting environmental DNA from some of the most remote places on Earth, they are building a massive genomic database that is already helping scientists design better proteins and explore rare genetic sequences. The team has discovered more than one million previously unknown species. Their work is now focused on programmable enzymes called large serine recombinases, which could allow more precise and flexible gene editing. These tools may open the door to next-generation cancer therapies and highly targeted gene repair strategies.

    More about their project here:

    https://www.ft.com/content/9765ab86-0156-4901-b6ec-fbee465ab819

    These breakthroughs show that biotech is not just catching up but actively leading in areas where traditional pipelines have stalled. The future of drug discovery looks more diverse, more ecological, and more tuned to the complexity of human biology than ever before.

  • New Test Uses Machine Learning to Personalize Prostate Cancer Treatment

    A major breakthrough in cancer care is making headlines. Scientists from the US, UK, and Switzerland have developed a cutting-edge test that predicts which men with aggressive, non-metastatic prostate cancer are most likely to benefit from the drug abiraterone. This is significant because while abiraterone can save lives, it also causes serious side effects such as high blood pressure, diabetes, and heart complications.

    Until now, doctors had no reliable way to know who should receive the drug. This new test, powered by machine learning, changes that. It analyzes digital images of tumor biopsy samples and identifies a specific biomarker that indicates whether a patient is likely to respond to treatment.

    In a study involving over one thousand men, the test found that twenty five percent of them had this biomarker. For these patients, abiraterone reduced the risk of death within five years from seventeen percent to nine percent. For the rest, the drug showed little to no effect, meaning they could avoid unnecessary treatment and side effects.

    The test is designed to work with routine clinical data and can easily be added to existing hospital workflows. It promises to make prostate cancer treatment more precise, sparing patients who do not need aggressive therapies and ensuring those who do get the help they need.

    Researchers also hope the findings will encourage broader approval of abiraterone for early-stage use, especially in the UK where its application has been limited. With this test, the decision becomes more scientific, more ethical, and far more personal.

    Read more here:

    https://www.theguardian.com/society/2025/may/30/new-ai-test-can-predict-which-men-will-benefit-from-prostate-cancer-drug

  • AI Simulates 500 Million Years of Evolution to Create a Novel Fluorescent Protein

    In a groundbreaking fusion of artificial intelligence and evolutionary biology, researchers at EvolutionaryScale and the Arc Institute have developed a novel fluorescent protein, esmGFP, using their advanced AI model, ESM3. This achievement marks a significant milestone in computational biology, demonstrating the potential of AI to simulate extensive evolutionary processes and design functional proteins beyond those found in nature.

    ESM3, a multimodal generative language model, was trained on an extensive dataset comprising over 3.15 billion protein sequences, 236 million protein structures, and 539 million protein annotations. This training enabled the model to understand and predict the sequence, structure, and function of proteins, effectively simulating 500 million years of molecular evolution in silico.

    The researchers prompted ESM3 to design a green fluorescent protein (GFP), a type of protein known for its ability to emit light and widely used as a marker in molecular biology. The AI-generated protein, esmGFP, shares only 58% sequence similarity with its closest natural counterpart, a fluorescent protein from the bubble-tip sea anemone (Entacmaea quadricolor). Despite this significant divergence, esmGFP was synthesized and successfully exhibited fluorescence in laboratory tests, validating the model’s capability to design functional proteins that nature has not evolved.

    This advancement holds immense promise for various applications, including drug discovery, environmental monitoring, and synthetic biology. The ability to design proteins with specific functions could lead to the development of new enzymes for breaking down plastics, novel therapeutics, and tools for exploring protein evolution.

    As someone deeply engaged in the intersection of AI and biology, the development of esmGFP underscores the transformative potential of integrating computational models with biological research. The capacity of AI to simulate vast evolutionary timescales and generate functional proteins exemplifies a paradigm shift in how we approach biological design and discovery.

    For more detailed information, you can refer to the original research article published in Science:

    https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.ads0018

    And the official announcement from EvolutionaryScale:

    https://www.evolutionaryscale.ai/blog/esm3-release

  • DeepMind Open-Sources AlphaFold 3: A New Era for AI-Driven Biology and Drug Discovery

    DeepMind and Isomorphic Labs have just open-sourced the code for AlphaFold 3, the latest and most powerful version of their AI system for predicting biomolecular structures. Unlike its predecessor, AlphaFold 3 can model not only proteins but also DNA, RNA, and small molecule interactions. This release is set to transform the fields of structural biology, drug discovery, and synthetic biology.

    The newly released AlphaFold 3 pipeline allows scientists and engineers to predict complex molecular assemblies with unprecedented accuracy. This includes protein-ligand binding, nucleic acid interactions, and even multi-protein complexes — tasks that were previously the domain of expensive wet-lab experimentation.

    What makes AlphaFold 3 particularly exciting for developers is the modular and Python-accessible architecture. Bioinformaticians, AI researchers, and biotech engineers can now directly integrate these models into their workflows, accelerating everything from target identification to molecule design. The fusion of machine learning and biology has never been more seamless.

    As AI continues to unlock new frontiers in life sciences, AlphaFold 3 sets the stage for a future where protein design and therapeutic discovery can be driven by open, programmable, and intelligent systems.

    https://github.com/deepmind/alphafold

    https://www.deepmind.com/blog/alphafold-3-predicting-the-shape-and-interactions-of-everything-protein

  • NVIDIA Adds Native Python Support to CUDA

    NVIDIA has just announced native support for Python in its CUDA platform, marking a major shift in how developers can access GPU acceleration. For the first time, Python developers can write CUDA programs without needing to rely on C or C++ bindings. This native integration drastically lowers the barrier for using GPUs in scientific computing, AI, and data-heavy Python applications.

    The new cuda-python package gives direct access to CUDA’s driver and runtime APIs, letting users launch kernels, manage memory, and control streams entirely from Python. It also includes support for just-in-time (JIT) compilation, which means you can write dynamic GPU code directly in Python, compile it on the fly, and run it immediately.

    A key innovation is the new CuTile programming model, which brings a tile-based structure to CUDA operations. CuTile is designed to feel natural to Python users familiar with NumPy and CuPy, and it allows for efficient manipulation of large data arrays without needing to manage threads manually.

    This move brings CUDA closer to Python’s ecosystem and could reshape how GPU computing is taught, deployed, and scaled across AI and HPC workloads.

    Read the full announcement here:

    https://thenewstack.io/nvidia-finally-adds-native-python-support-to-cuda/

    Official documentation from NVIDIA:

    https://developer.nvidia.com/cuda-python

  • AI Discovers Over One Million New Species, Transforming Drug Discovery

    A UK-based biotech company, Basecamp Research, is using artificial intelligence and environmental DNA to uncover a vast new world of biology. By sampling DNA from some of the planet’s most remote and untouched ecosystems, the company has identified over one million previously unknown species. These discoveries are not just academic. They are fueling a next-generation AI platform designed to radically accelerate drug discovery.

    The company’s genomic database is already among the largest of its kind. It is being used to train AI models that predict protein structures, functions, and interactions at unprecedented accuracy. This includes boosting tools like AlphaFold, which helps researchers visualize the shape of proteins based on genetic code alone.

    A major focus of the project is the identification of new large serine recombinases, a type of enzyme that can precisely insert large DNA sequences into the genome. These enzymes are considered highly promising for future gene therapies, including for cancer and rare genetic disorders.

    Basecamp Research is also trying to set a new standard in ethical science. The team works directly with local researchers and governments in the regions where DNA samples are collected. In return, partner countries receive royalties and scientific credit, avoiding the extractive models of earlier biotech ventures.

    This combination of field biology, advanced sequencing, and deep learning could reshape how we find drugs, understand evolution, and build genetic tools. It is a powerful example of how AI, when paired with real-world data, can help uncover the deepest layers of life on Earth.

    Read the full story here:

    https://www.ft.com/content/9765ab86-0156-4901-b6ec-fbee465ab819

  • Meta Shifts to AI for Product Risk Reviews

    Meta is moving to automate the majority of its internal risk assessments using artificial intelligence. Until now, most updates to Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp underwent manual reviews to ensure they would not harm users or violate laws. That is about to change.

    According to a report published by TechCrunch, Meta plans to have AI handle up to 90 percent of these assessments. The company says this will speed up product development while still keeping humans in the loop for sensitive or unfamiliar issues.

    This shift is part of a wider push inside Meta to cut costs and streamline decision making across its platforms. Engineers will soon be asked to input risk-related information into a system that scores each update and determines whether human review is needed. If not, the feature could go live automatically.

    Critics argue that AI cannot yet fully understand complex social or political risks, especially those tied to misinformation, privacy, or cultural harm. Meta’s executives have acknowledged that risk automation will be a gradual process, and that human judgment will remain essential for edge cases.

    Full story: https://techcrunch.com/2025/05/31/meta-plans-to-automate-many-of-its-product-risk-assessments/

    Alternate source: https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/tech/artificial-intelligence/meta-to-handover-most-of-product-risk-assessments-to-ai/articleshow/121541117.cms