Bridget Moy, Lab of the Future Correspondent, Open Pharma Research

Microbiology is now crucial to many pharmaceutical, clinical and industrial practices. However, key challenges such as inherent biological complexity, unharmonised data and experimental/ regulatory burdens are delaying industry progress. Emerging AI-enabled technologies such as predictive modelling, intelligent automation and data harmonisation are changing how the science is done, but their implementation is low. This article introduces these technologies and their applications in industry, while assessing the biological and technological challenges preventing their widespread uptake.