Unleashing Scientific Data
A conversation with Nicholas Larus-Stone of Sphinx Bio, Bits in Bio
"Anytime you ask a question, that should be contextualized in all the data that you've generated."
I love this vision on the future of scientific discovery shared by Nicholas Larus-Stone, CEO of Sphinx Bio and founder of the Bits in Bio community.
In our wide-ranging sit-down conversation, we explored:
What an engineering mindset uniquely brings to biotech
The real-world data workflows of scientists today (shout-out to thumb drives!)
The transformative potential of AI co-scientists
Managing AI hallucinations and building trust
The story of Bits in Bio: the community that’s helping shape the future of Software x Science
Watch or Listen Now
If you're excited about the intersection of AI, agents, data, and science, and want a glimpse into the future of discovery, join us for this conversation.
Also available on:
Spotify: https://spoti.fi/42Uvv5J
Apple Podcasts: https://apple.co/40sQCu9
Additional Show Notes
Episode Links:
Nicholas' LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/nlarusstone/
Sphinx Bio https://www.sphinxbio.com/
Bits in Bio https://www.bitsinbio.org/
Folding Playground https://www.sphinxbio.com/post/folding-playground
Google Co-Scientist Paper https://arxiv.org/abs/2502.18864
Recursion https://www.recursion.com/
Defining TechBio https://medium.com/cantos-ventures/what-is-techbio-ef01cd61834d
Episode Chapters:
00:00 - Preview & Introduction
04:34 - Why Biotech & Life Science
07:33 - About Small Molecule Discovery Companies Octant & Benevolent AI
11:47 - Why Is Software Second in Biotech?
14:35 - What Engineers Bring to Biotech
16:00 - Is Science Data-Starved or Data Rich?
19:23 - How Scientists Work With Data
28:10 - Observations That Led to Founding Sphinx Bio
31:48 - AI Co-Scientists
37:57 - How Platforms like Sphinx Are Powered
40:31 - Foundation Model Companies' Interest in Science
43:58 - How Sphinx Leverages AI Models
45:59 - Managing Hallucinations
47:52 - Scientists: Give AI Another Try
49:02 - The Business and Cycles of TechBio
53:32 - Google's Co-Scientist, Notebook LM, and Other Science Ventures
57:43 - Protein Folding Playground
00:58:58 - "Wrapper" Companies In Era of Foundation Model Commoditization
01:01:56 - Bits in Bio Community & Growth
01:04:25 - Try Sphinx's Platform; Work for Sphinx; Support Your Local Scientist