Science

AI and CRISPR Identify New Kidney Cancer Drug Targets Researchers in the UK and Korea have developed a new machine learning pipeline to identify novel drug targets for clear cell renal cell carcinoma (ccRCC), a common type of kidney cancer. The innovative framework integrates single-cell RNA sequencing with CRISPR screens and protein network analysis to pinpoint tumor-specific vulnerabilities. This AI-driven approach identified 96 potential drug targets and 39 existing FDA-approved compounds for repurposing. Preclinical tests revealed that several of these drugs, including Ribociclib and Dasatinib, were significantly more effective than current standard treatments across all tested renal cancer cell lines. This research, published in npj Drug Discovery, focuses on targeting the tumor’s intrinsic weaknesses. ...

AI Creativity Now Matches Average Humans, But Lags Behind Top Innovators, Study Reveals A landmark study from the Université de Montréal, co-authored by AI pioneer Yoshua Bengio, reveals that leading AI models now match or exceed the average human’s creative abilities in linguistic tasks. Published in Scientific Reports, the research is the largest comparative study of its kind, testing large language models like GPT-4, Claude, and Gemini against 100,000 people. While models like GPT-4 have achieved a significant milestone by reaching average human creativity, the study underscores that the most creative individuals still significantly outperform the most advanced AI systems. ...

Zoox Gets Federal Green Light for Driverless Robotaxi Deployment Amazon’s subsidiary, Zoox, has received a crucial federal exemption from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) to deploy its purpose-built, driverless robotaxis on public roads. This is a landmark decision, making Zoox the first U.S. company to gain such an exemption under the expanded Automated Vehicle Exemption Program (AVEP). The custom-designed vehicles notably lack traditional controls like steering wheels or pedals, featuring a carriage-style interior with inward-facing seats for four passengers. As a condition of the approval, Zoox must remove any claims that its vehicles comply with all Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards. This regulatory milestone clears the path for Zoox to scale production at its California facility, as the NHTSA has also closed its investigation into the company’s self-certification processes. ...