NSF Awards $20 Million to Northwestern University for AI-Driven Protein Engineering Lab
The National Science Foundation (NSF) has granted Northwestern University $20 million to establish the first publicly accessible AI-powered cloud laboratory for protein engineering, named the AI-Driven, Rapid, Experimental Automation Machine (DREAM) Cloud Lab. This facility, part of the NSF's Programmable Cloud Laboratory initiative, aims to accelerate the development of new medicines, sustainable materials, and other biotechnology innovations. The lab will be housed within Northwestern's Center for Synthetic Biology and will serve as a hub for protein engineering, providing researchers and industry partners with advanced AI-driven capabilities. Over four years, the lab plans to synthesize and characterize over 300,000 proteins, generating a vast dataset for AI-guided protein engineering. 
