
Building an AI-Driven Autonomous Lab for Life Science R&D | Discovery Engines
From Discovery Engines – with Nabil by Nabil Laoudji, YesAnd Labs LLC
March 30, 2026 · 1h 39m · Season 1 · Episode 14
About this episode
Jason Kelly discusses the future of life science R&D through the lens of Ginkgo Bioworks' autonomous lab and its collaborations.
Jason Kelly, CEO of Ginkgo Bioworks, believes the future of life science R&D is autonomous, starting with the 52-cart lab he and his team have built in Boston. In this episode, I sit down with Jason to explore Ginkgo's autonomous biology lab, its collaboration with OpenAI, the POTUS-backed Genesis Mission, and where autonomous physical systems could take science next. Hosted by Nabil Laoudji. See below for episode links, chapters, and our socials. 🙏🙌 Episode Links: Ginkgo Bioworks Jason Kelly's LinkedIn OpenAI x Ginkgo Cell-Free Protein Synthesis Collaboration Genesis Mission to Accelerate AI for Scientific Discovery PNNL's Anaerobic Microbial Phenotyping Platform (AMP2) Society for Lab Automation and Screening GlobalData Report: Large Pharma Drug Licensing from China Chapters: (00:00) - Preview (01:54) - Jurassic Park and the Value of Storytelling in Science (04:50) - What Is the Department of Energy's AMP2 at PNNL? (07:17) - How Autonomous Labs Can Be Used to Run Experiments (11:49) - Principles of the Autonomous Lab (Waymo Analogy) (17:12) - Project Genesis, Competing with China in Scientific Discovery (23:42) - Reindustrializing America via Automation (37:03) - OpenAI…
People in this episode
Host: Nabil Laoudji
Guest: Jason Kelly
Topics covered
- autonomous labs
- life science R&D
- AI in science
- biotechnology
- automation
- scientific discovery
Keywords
- autonomous lab
- Ginkgo Bioworks
- OpenAI
- life science
- AI-driven research
- Genesis Mission
- biological experiments
Mentioned in this episode
Organizations: Ginkgo Bioworks, OpenAI, Department of Energy, PNNL, Society for Lab Automation and Screening, GlobalData
Places: Boston
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