Elliot Hershberg

Genomics researcher and investor; writes The Century of Biology on where biotechnology is actually going.

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Newsletter

Latest Newsletter

CSHL: AI in Biology 21 Jun 2026

What they believe

AI is becoming the next major paradigm shift in biology, following genetics and genomics.

It's becoming more clear each day that the next chapter of this story is AI.

centuryofbio.comSaid 21 Jun 2026This on korrents
Biotech R&D efficiency and pharma R&D efficiency are not the same thing and should not be conflated.

Biotech R&D efficiency and pharma R&D efficiency are not the same thing.

centuryofbio.comSaid 12 Apr 2026This on korrents

The bold line is korrents’ wording; the quote is theirs. These 2: what they wrote before what they said aloud, one per source, newest first.

All 21 beliefs, on korrents

Feed

As its own page →

Everything, newest first — across every channel.

Sources

21 June

Elliot HershbergKorrents 21 Jun

From one piece CSHL: AI in Biology 3 beliefs · centuryofbio.com

korrents.com
Computer science has already revolutionized biological research.

Their words

In other words, computer science has already revolutionized biological research.

CSHL: AI in Biologycenturyofbio.com
korrents.com
Agentic AI systems for autonomously carrying out scientific research are still at a very early stage of development.

Their words

We are very early in the development of agentic systems in biology.

CSHL: AI in Biologycenturyofbio.com
korrents.com
AI is becoming the next major paradigm shift in biology, following genetics and genomics.

Their words

It's becoming more clear each day that the next chapter of this story is AI.

CSHL: AI in Biologycenturyofbio.com

12 April

Elliot HershbergKorrents 12 Apr

From one piece AI Versus Eroom's Law 3 beliefs · centuryofbio.com

korrents.com
When pharmaceutical companies act as top-down gatekeepers for which therapeutic ideas get pursued, promising innovations from startups can be overlooked.

startupsPsychotherapyinnovation

Their words

Relying on pharma as top-down tastemakers can stifle the emergence of new therapeutic ideas from startups.

AI Versus Eroom's Lawcenturyofbio.com
korrents.com
New technologies can meaningfully improve R&D productivity in drug development.

Their words

New technologies can and do make an impact on R&D productivity.

AI Versus Eroom's Lawcenturyofbio.com
korrents.com
Biotech R&D efficiency and pharma R&D efficiency are not the same thing and should not be conflated.

Their words

Biotech R&D efficiency and pharma R&D efficiency are not the same thing.

AI Versus Eroom's Lawcenturyofbio.com

18 January

Elliot HershbergKorrents 18 Jan

From one piece Going Founder Mode On Cancer 3 beliefs · centuryofbio.com

korrents.com
Cancer can usefully be understood as a disease of corrupted or lost genomic information.

Their words

Cancer is a disease of information. Loss of genomic information threatens to destroy the self.

Going Founder Mode On Cancercenturyofbio.com
korrents.com
China's more permissive posture toward testing experimental medicines threatens the competitiveness of the American biotech industry.

ChinaAmerica

Their words

In recent years, China has adopted a dramatically different posture towards testing experimental medicines that now threatens the future competitiveness of the American biotech sector.

Going Founder Mode On Cancercenturyofbio.com
korrents.com
Drug discovery has become less efficient over time despite continued technological progress.

Their words

Drug discovery has gotten less efficient over time despite extraordinary technological progress.

Going Founder Mode On Cancercenturyofbio.com

23 November 2025

Elliot HershbergKorrents 23 Nov 2025

From one piece On AI Infrastructure in Biology 3 beliefs · centuryofbio.com

korrents.com
AI models can be more accurate than physical experiments by averaging out noise, incorporating priors from large datasets, and interpolating between data points.

Their words

Compared to experiments, AI models have a few advantages: They can average out background experimental noise, incorporate priors from massive data sets like the PDB, and interpolate between nearby data points.

On AI Infrastructure in Biologycenturyofbio.com
korrents.com
In a platform shift, no single platform company can offer every solution the next wave of applications needs.

Their words

In this type of transition, it's incredibly hard for one platform company to offer every solution needed to build the next wave of applications.

On AI Infrastructure in Biologycenturyofbio.com
korrents.com
AI infrastructure companies that sell tools rather than drugs can become massive, highly valuable businesses in biotech.

infrastructure

Their words

But I don't think that means there can't be massive, objectively investable infrastructure businesses that create a lot of value for the industry.

On AI Infrastructure in Biologycenturyofbio.com

28 September 2025

Elliot HershbergNewsletter 28 Sept 2025

Manifold Bio: Barcoded Biologics

29 June 2025

Elliot HershbergKorrents 29 Jun 2025

From one piece What Are Virtual Cells? 3 beliefs · centuryofbio.com

korrents.com
Building a mechanistic whole-cell model of a human cell is far more uncertain in timeline than doing so for simpler organisms like E. coli.

Their words

For human cells, with billions of DNA base pairs and tens of thousands of genes, the timeline for mechanistic whole-cell models is much less certain.

What Are Virtual Cells?centuryofbio.com
korrents.com
Deep learning has effectively solved the problem of predicting a protein's 3D structure from its sequence.

protein structure prediction

Their words

After decades of research-including lots of attempted math and software 1.0-the problem of 3D protein structure prediction was effectively solved by deep learning.

What Are Virtual Cells?centuryofbio.com
korrents.com
Unlike physics, biology's complexity and nonlinearity make a brute-force approach to knowledge creation necessary rather than one based on writing down equations.

physics

Their words

Molecular biology is not like physics. The complexity-and nonlinearity-of living systems has required a brute force approach to knowledge creation and dissemination.

What Are Virtual Cells?centuryofbio.com

16 March 2025

Elliot HershbergNewsletter 16 Mar 2025

On Modality Commoditization

16 February 2025

Elliot HershbergNewsletter 16 Feb 2025

Hub-and-Spoke Biotechs: BridgeBio

20 October 2024

Elliot HershbergNewsletter 20 Oct 2024

Hub-and-Spoke Biotechs: Nimbus Therapeutics

22 September 2024

Elliot HershbergNewsletter 22 Sept 2024

Living Carbon: Photosynthesis-Enhanced Trees

23 June 2024

Elliot HershbergNewsletter 23 Jun 2024

A Summer Hiatus

2 June 2024

Elliot HershbergNewsletter 2 Jun 2024

Scaling CRISPR Cures

5 May 2024

Elliot HershbergNewsletter 5 May 2024

Generating (Somewhat) New Biology with AI
LLMs

14 April 2024

Elliot HershbergNewsletter 14 Apr 2024

Compounding Until Inflection

18 February 2024

Elliot HershbergNewsletter 18 Feb 2024

New tools for programming biology

The whole feed →

Beliefs

Korrents What they believe 21 beliefs — each backed by an exact quote.
Each is a — compiled by korrents.com, not by them: the one-line wordings are korrents', the quotes are theirs.
Recent
- AI is becoming the next major paradigm shift in biology, following genetics and genomics.
  
  It's becoming more clear each day that the next chapter of this story is AI.
  
  CSHL: AI in Biology Said 21 Jun 2026
  
  Full record — everyone who holds this →
- Agentic AI systems for autonomously carrying out scientific research are still at a very early stage of development.
  
  We are very early in the development of agentic systems in biology.
  
  CSHL: AI in Biology Said 21 Jun 2026
  
  Full record — everyone who holds this →
- Computer science has already revolutionized biological research.
  
  In other words, computer science has already revolutionized biological research.
  
  CSHL: AI in Biology Said 21 Jun 2026
  
  Full record — everyone who holds this →
Show 18 more

Biotech R&D efficiency and pharma R&D efficiency are not the same thing and should not be conflated.

Biotech R&D efficiency and pharma R&D efficiency are not the same thing.

AI Versus Eroom's Law Said 12 Apr 2026

Full record — everyone who holds this →

New technologies can meaningfully improve R&D productivity in drug development.

New technologies can and do make an impact on R&D productivity.

AI Versus Eroom's Law Said 12 Apr 2026

Full record — everyone who holds this →

When pharmaceutical companies act as top-down gatekeepers for which therapeutic ideas get pursued, promising innovations from startups can be overlooked.

Relying on pharma as top-down tastemakers can stifle the emergence of new therapeutic ideas from startups.

AI Versus Eroom's Law Said 12 Apr 2026

Full record — everyone who holds this →

startups Psychotherapy innovation

Drug discovery has become less efficient over time despite continued technological progress.

Drug discovery has gotten less efficient over time despite extraordinary technological progress.

Going Founder Mode On Cancer Said 18 Jan 2026

Full record — everyone who holds this →

China's more permissive posture toward testing experimental medicines threatens the competitiveness of the American biotech industry.

In recent years, China has adopted a dramatically different posture towards testing experimental medicines that now threatens the future competitiveness of the American biotech sector.

Going Founder Mode On Cancer Said 18 Jan 2026

Full record — everyone who holds this →

China America

Cancer can usefully be understood as a disease of corrupted or lost genomic information.

Cancer is a disease of information. Loss of genomic information threatens to destroy the self.

Going Founder Mode On Cancer Said 18 Jan 2026

Full record — everyone who holds this →

AI infrastructure companies that sell tools rather than drugs can become massive, highly valuable businesses in biotech.

But I don't think that means there can't be massive, objectively investable infrastructure businesses that create a lot of value for the industry.

On AI Infrastructure in Biology Said 23 Nov 2025

Full record — everyone who holds this →

infrastructure

In a platform shift, no single platform company can offer every solution the next wave of applications needs.

In this type of transition, it's incredibly hard for one platform company to offer every solution needed to build the next wave of applications.

On AI Infrastructure in Biology Said 23 Nov 2025

Full record — everyone who holds this →

AI models can be more accurate than physical experiments by averaging out noise, incorporating priors from large datasets, and interpolating between data points.

Compared to experiments, AI models have a few advantages: They can average out background experimental noise, incorporate priors from massive data sets like the PDB, and interpolate between nearby data points.

On AI Infrastructure in Biology Said 23 Nov 2025

Full record — everyone who holds this →

Unlike physics, biology's complexity and nonlinearity make a brute-force approach to knowledge creation necessary rather than one based on writing down equations.

Molecular biology is not like physics. The complexity-and nonlinearity-of living systems has required a brute force approach to knowledge creation and dissemination.

What Are Virtual Cells? Said 29 Jun 2025

Full record — everyone who holds this →

physics

Deep learning has effectively solved the problem of predicting a protein's 3D structure from its sequence.

After decades of research-including lots of attempted math and software 1.0-the problem of 3D protein structure prediction was effectively solved by deep learning.

What Are Virtual Cells? Said 29 Jun 2025

Full record — everyone who holds this →

protein structure prediction

Building a mechanistic whole-cell model of a human cell is far more uncertain in timeline than doing so for simpler organisms like E. coli.

For human cells, with billions of DNA base pairs and tens of thousands of genes, the timeline for mechanistic whole-cell models is much less certain.

What Are Virtual Cells? Said 29 Jun 2025

Full record — everyone who holds this →

China has become a serious competitive threat in biotech, capable of developing drugs that rival or surpass those produced in American labs.

China has become a serious competitive threat in biotech, demonstrating the capacity to rapidly develop new drugs that can rival-or surpass-those being produced in American labs.

On Modality Commoditization Said 16 Mar 2025

Full record — everyone who holds this →

China America

No technology, including drug discovery technologies, is immune to the eventual pull toward commoditization.

no discovery technology is immune from the inescapable pull towards commoditization-like virtually every other technology.

On Modality Commoditization Said 16 Mar 2025

Full record — everyone who holds this →

Revolutionary ideas eventually become universal building blocks for the next wave of innovation.

Over time, revolutionary ideas become universal building blocks for the next wave of innovation.

On Modality Commoditization Said 16 Mar 2025

Full record — everyone who holds this →

innovation

The biotech industry has not undergone the same exhaustive search for every commercializable opportunity that followed the internet's growth boom.

What we haven't seen is the same type of frantic hunt for every nugget of value that could be commercialized as a result of this enormous secular trend.

Hub-and-Spoke Biotechs: BridgeBio Said 16 Feb 2025

Full record — everyone who holds this →

The number of diseases with a known molecular explanation has grown far faster than the number of new drugs developed to treat them.

The set of diseases for which we have a molecular explanation-which resembles the equivalent of the Craigslist homepage for this analogy-has grown far faster than the corresponding set of new drugs to treat them.

Hub-and-Spoke Biotechs: BridgeBio Said 16 Feb 2025

Full record — everyone who holds this →

The Human Genome Project's results have been less transformative than initially advertised relative to its cost.

I think this partially explains some of the discontent in the scientific community about the Human Genome Project. After billions of dollars that could have been spent in other places, the result is less transformative than initially advertised.

Hub-and-Spoke Biotechs: BridgeBio Said 16 Feb 2025

Full record — everyone who holds this →
All 21 beliefs →

What is a korrent?

A korrent is a belief a person has stated in their own words: one sentence stating the claim, backed by a quote and a source, kept at korrents.com.

Under a name here, the quoted block is what they actually said. The korrent beneath it is the claim those words support, in korrents' wording — tap it to see the record, its source, and who else holds it.

Nobody here wrote their own korrents. They are compiled from public statements, and a person can change their mind, which is recorded too.

Recommends rcmnd

rcmnd What they recommend 1 thing — each backed by an exact quote.
Compiled by rcmnd.app, not by them: the quotes are theirs, and each links to the post it was copied from.
Recent
- Recommends Decoding Bio 25 Feb 2023
  
  A nice weekly roundup of biotech news assembled by a quality team of investors.
  
  centuryofbio.com 25 Feb 2023
  
  What others say about Decoding Bio →
All 1 recommendation →

Where they publish

Newsletter The Century of Biology His newsletter on biotechnology and the tools behind it. Has a feed.
Open centuryofbio.com
Recent
- CSHL: AI in Biology 21 Jun 2026 A conference for the history books
- AI Versus Eroom's Law 12 Apr 2026 Observations as an early-stage investor
- Going Founder Mode On Cancer 18 Jan 2026 Sid Sijbrandij's extraordinary care journey
Show 17 more

On AI Infrastructure in Biology 23 Nov 2025 Three stories; six parameters
Manifold Bio: Barcoded Biologics 28 Sept 2025 Designing medicines that go where we want them to
What Are Virtual Cells? 29 Jun 2025 Learning "universal representations" of life's fundamental unit
On Modality Commoditization 16 Mar 2025 And what might come next
Hub-and-Spoke Biotechs: BridgeBio 16 Feb 2025 Attempting "Moneyball for biotech"
Hub-and-Spoke Biotechs: Nimbus Therapeutics 20 Oct 2024 Building an "evergreen" drug discovery engine
Living Carbon: Photosynthesis-Enhanced Trees 22 Sept 2024 Why and how to engineer trees; climate biotech business strategy
A Summer Hiatus 23 Jun 2024 Pausing before scaling
Scaling CRISPR Cures 2 Jun 2024 Realizing the potential of genetic medicine
Generating (Somewhat) New Biology with AI 5 May 2024 Using protein language models for Digital Evolution
Compounding Until Inflection 14 Apr 2024 Present vs. future platform value
New tools for programming biology 18 Feb 2024 Continuous mutagenesis, RNA writing, and more
Spill the TEA 28 Jan 2024 Making economically viable bioproducts
Dyno Therapeutics: The Capsids You Need 7 Jan 2024 How AI can accelerate gene therapy
Colonizing Mars isn't a rocket problem 3 Dec 2023 It's a biology problem
On biotech platform strategy 12 Nov 2023 Thoughts and updates on platform typology and partnering dynamics
Illumina: The Measurement Monopoly 17 Sept 2023 How one biotech company changed the arc of genomics
Link verified 20 Sept 2026. Recent items update automatically from the channel.

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The post itself is never changed, moved or hidden: what is set in the serif above is exactly what the person published, and it is what to quote them on. A translation can be wrong in ways that matter, especially about tone.

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