Let’s introduce to our audience Dr. Thomas Launey! Who are you? If you had to describe yourself in 1 sentence, what would you say?

My name is Dr. Thomas Launey, Chief Researcher of the Biotechnology Research Center at TII. In my whole career as a biophysicist, brain scientist and now as biotechnologist, I have always been most productive at the interface between science - exploring and understanding – and Technology - designing and building. My role at TII fully answers this aspiration since I can lead a team of very talented scientists, all dedicated to advancing biotechnology and its applications in medicine, agriculture, and environmental sustainability, with a focus on innovative solutions that improve health and quality of life.

‍

What are the most
A- Fascinating research
B- Impactful research
C- Fun and whimsical research
You are leading these days? 

Fascinating research: Currently, I’m leading efforts in developing human-derived organoids and organ-on-a-chip models for disease modeling and drug screening. These platforms hold tremendous potential for understanding complex diseases and testing new therapies.

Impactful research: Our work on mRNA-encoded camel nanobodies as inflammation therapeutics is particularly impactful, as it aims to create highly specific drugs for challenging health conditions, such as brain and metabolic diseases. It is also particularly well suited to rapidly create successful spin-offs in the UAE Biotech ecosystem.

Fun and whimsical research: If you get to know the people doing the research, I would say that the “fun and whimsical” aspect is easy to find, in all our projects.  The fun and whimsical is often in witnessing how interactions between people working in different scientific domain suddenly coalesce into a transformative idea and TII is an excellent place to nurture these opportunities.

‍

Biotech + Neuroscience = … ?

The combination of biotechnology and neuroscience is leading to thrilling breakthroughs in brain-machine interfaces and personalized medicine, but this is only the tip of the iceberg. Biotechnology is the foundation of the 6^th industrial revolution and Neuroscience has opened a multitude of windows on brain computation, learning mechanisms, brain disease, gut-brain axis, aging processes… Combine the two and you have a large playing field to create new solutions for brain enhancement and repair, for new brain-machine interfaces, for more efficient computation and for improvement in quality of life.

‍

We’ve been hearing about precision cancer therapy… How is it possible? And is it already here?

Precision cancer therapy is possible through the use of genomics and bioinformatics to analyze an individual's tumor at the molecular level. This allows us to identify specific mutations and tailor treatments accordingly, while also minimizing side-effects of these treatments. Our ongoing projects in engineering T-cells as anti-cancer therapeutics, in creation of patient digital twins through multi-omics and in mini-organ disease models are all contributing to moving away from the one-size-fits-all traditional approach. Precision medicine is already being implemented in many cancer treatment protocols and we can expect further progresses in the near future.

‍

AI…AI…AI…is AI doing anything useful in your fields of molecular biotechnology and genomics?

Yes, AI is revolutionizing all biotechnology. Biotechnology is not new science but is a mind-bogglingly complex one, with each molecule bringing its own small world to complex interactions, changing shapes and biological activity. Put a lot of different molecules in cells, the different cells in an organ, and the organs together in a body and then you have to pity the biologist trying to design a therapy specifically correcting the (mis)behavior of a protein. The revolution that ML/AI enables in biotechnology cannot be overstated. The ability to analyze vast among of data allows us to generate actionable knowledge to predict disease, to identifying potential drug targets and design drug candidates, to predict protein interactions, and even optimizing the design of bioproduction processes, even with only partial understanding of the underlying processes. This is already accelerating our research and development efforts.

‍

If you could design an experiment without any limitations of time or money, what would it be?

I would have to choose between two equally tempting endeavors. The first would be to create the tools to make it affordable for each of us to create our digital twin and be in full control of our health, to maximize wellbeing and healthy aging. The second, would be to have a perfect and comprehensive model of how a cell “works”. It would answer the question of how to you create Life from Matter, but, more importantly, this would make my work much easier as a biotechnologist

‍

If you could have a superhero power, what would it be?

I would choose the power of seeing the infinitely small, down to the nanometer scale, in real time … and in color. I have a colleague whose dream was to be able to reduce herself to the size of an atom and be injected into cells to witness first-hand what happens “down there”. Unsurprisingly, we have worked together on improving microscopes.

‍

Mystery dinner party…Dead or Alive, who would be 3 guests you would invite to your dinner party?

I would invite:

1. Rosalind Franklin - Her contributions to the discovery of DNA's structure are invaluable.
2. Kary Mullis - Inventor of PCR (Polymerase Chain Reaction), his work allowed for rapid DNA amplification, foundational to modern Biotechnology
3. Rachel Carson - Environmental scientist and author of Silent Spring, Carson was a driving force behind the environmental movement and bioethics.
4. Charles Darwin – For the fun of it..

‍

If you could leave a question for the next guest, what would that be?

"What do you believe is the most significant ethical consideration we must address as we advance in biotechnological research and applications, more simply put, is our wisdom improving as fast as our technological prowess?".

‍