Discovering Solutions, Fostering Optimism

# ai # Gemini # Health # Googlers

As a Googler, I'm surrounded by cutting-edge tech every day. But I never thought I'd use this technology to help save my son Max's life, and others like him. In 2023, Max was diagnosed with Alexander disease (AxD), a rare and fatal neurodegenerative condition. It turned our world upside down. We were told there was no treatment or cure, and while the exact progression was uncertain, the outcome was clear. Suddenly, we were thrown into a world of complex medical jargon. Like many parents facing this, I just wanted to understand what was happening to Max, the science behind AxD, and what we could do about it. The science seemed out of reach. Research papers were packed with terms I didn't get. I felt lost, overwhelmed, and desperate for some clarity. That's when Gemini stepped in as my ally. It let me say, "Explain this so someone with high school biology knowledge could understand." Because that's where I was at. [ttpp]I used Gemini's PDF upload feature to get summaries of complex research papers.[yyxx] I could feed Gemini these dense research papers, genetic explanations, and medical articles, and it would break them down into something I could grasp. It was like having a personal science tutor, available whenever I needed it. Even Dr. Albee Messing, the kindest and most patient Alexander disease scientist at the Waisman Center, University of Wisconsin-Madison, couldn't answer all my questions or catch me up on neurobiology. But Gemini helped me not only with the terminology but also with the concepts behind it. This new understanding was transformative. It wasn't just about absorbing information anymore; it was about connecting the dots. With Gemini's help, I started seeing how different research areas could relate to Alexander disease. For example, if there's a paper on a cell therapy that addresses "senescence," or aging, and another on "senescence in AxD," could they be connected? With a clearer understanding of the science, I could ask researchers more specific questions. So, I emailed them. Amazingly, scientists responded. What started with a few emails and calls grew into world-class scientists, who had never heard of Alexander disease, applying their expertise in new ways that might lead to treatments. Now, 11 research groups (professors or their labs) have either done or are doing work on AxD that they hadn't before. [ttpp]Dr. Amy Waldman of Children's Hospital of Philadelphia is one of the foremost Alexander disease doctors in the country. She is working to bring new clinical treatments to AxD patients like Max. Professor Corina Amor's main focus is on aging and senescence at Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory. She was one of the first researchers I connected with. At Duke, Pranam Chatterjee, Assistant Professor of Biomechanical Engineering, is using AI to help develop peptide-guided protein therapeutics for AxD.[yyxx] I'm no doctor or biologist, but I'm honored to now serve on the board of End AxD, join scientific conferences, and raise funds to enable scientific testing of promising research on AxD. Me—a dad who just wanted to understand what was happening to his child. Our family's journey with AxD has been tough, but it's also been a journey of hope. I turned to technology and found a bridge to connect with the scientific community, a group of people I will forever be grateful for and in awe of. Beyond everyday uses, AI has the potential to revolutionize medicine, genetics, biology, and drug discovery. Google DeepMind's AlphaFold, created in partnership with Isomorphic Labs, could help scientists develop new drugs and treatments by understanding and predicting how proteins fold. Isomorphic Labs is pushing forward into new therapeutic research by developing cutting-edge computational and AI methods to accelerate the drug discovery process, which could lead to biomedical breakthroughs and treatments for devastating diseases. Google recently introduced an AI co-scientist to help accelerate scientific discoveries and find cures, including for rare diseases like AxD. These tools will allow scientists to make faster breakthroughs, especially for the thousands of rare diseases that often receive limited attention and funding. I'm grateful for the many scientists working to help families like mine and glad that Gemini empowered me to play a productive role in advancing research. I hope it can do the same for more people. To support breakthrough research on treatments of Alexander disease, visit EndAxD.org. Find out more about Leukodystrophies, the group of diseases that Alexander disease belongs to, at ULF.org. Find out more about the science of Alexander disease at the Waisman Center's Alexander Disease Lab. Acknowledgments: A special thanks to: Dr. Amy Waldman, Neurologist at Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, Dr. Corina Amor, Ph.D., Assistant Professor at Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory and the Amor Lab team, Pranam Chatterjee, Ph.D., Assistant Professor of Biomedical Engineering at Duke University, Albee Messing, V.M.D., Ph.D., Professor Emeritus of Neuropathology in the Department of Comparative Biosciences, and all the doctors, scientists, and researchers working tirelessly to find a cure. [ttpp][yyxx]

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