Cancer scientists will begin testing an artificial intelligence ‘co-scientist’ designed to help generate new research ideas and accelerate discovery through an £8 million project funded by Cancer Research UK.
The initiative, known as Project AURORA, will see three international Cancer Grand Challenges teams assess whether AI can help tackle some of the most difficult questions in cancer research.
The teams will use the technology to investigate why some normal cells become cancerous, how the immune system can be better equipped to recognise and destroy tumours and how immune-cell therapies could be improved for childhood cancers.
Project AURORA uses agentic AI to search scientific literature and analyse research data. The system is designed to identify patterns, generate new scientific hypotheses and propose experiments to test those ideas.
Researchers will evaluate the AI-generated suggestions and conduct the most promising experiments in the laboratory. Findings from those studies will then be fed back into the system to help guide future research directions.
According to Cancer Research UK, the technology could also help scientists identify less promising avenues earlier, enabling resources to be focused on the most productive lines of investigation.
The project is funded through Cancer Grand Challenges, a global research initiative established by Cancer Research UK and the US National Cancer Institute. Development of the AI platform is being led by a team headed by Associate Professor Marinka Zitnik at Harvard Medical School.
Unlike conventional AI tools that respond to individual queries, the system is intended to plan and execute a sequence of research-related tasks while operating under human oversight.
Michelle Mitchell, Chief Executive of Cancer Research UK, said: “Behind every advance in our understanding of cancer are researchers asking difficult questions, testing ideas and following the evidence.”
She added: “AI offers new possibilities, but it takes skilled scientists to turn a promising idea into a discovery that can make a difference to people’s lives.”
Mitchell continued: “Through Cancer Grand Challenges, we’re bringing AI together with the expertise of outstanding researchers to tackle some of cancer’s toughest problems.”
She concluded: “Our ambition is to accelerate discoveries that could lead to new ways to prevent, diagnose and treat cancer.”
