4 ms·
They've hired some really heavy hitters in biology, but that's about all this article reveals. Would be nice to know what they're doing, given the extremely str
by entee 11y ago
They've hired some really heavy hitters in biology, but that's about all this article reveals. Would be nice to know what they're doing, given the extremely strong academic pedigree for some of these guys I wonder if they'll start publishing some of their research.
It would be great if Google/Alphabet's resources could be used to ask biological questions that a hyper conservative organization like the NIH is reluctant to fund, but that's a little less useful if most of that knowledge stays locked up at Google.
Another note, it's not trivial to apply computational tools to biology and come back with meaningful results. The fact that they're hiring people who really know their biology to act as a sanity check and a guide to what we can only assume is a strong computational effort is a very welcome indication that Calico is trying to avoid those pitfalls.
- dekhn 11y agoGoogle's resources are already being used to ask biological questions that NIH is reluctant to fund (I know, because after NIH was reluctant to fund my research, I went to Google and did it there instead). I felt it was pretty important that the knowledge was diffused, this includes both publications and data dumps.
- navi54 11y agoDoes Google give away funding for projects?
- dekhn 11y agoSorry for the late reply. Yes, Google has several research awards, including this one: https://research.google.com/research-outreach.html#/research-outreach/faculty-engagement/faculty-research-awards https://research.google.com/research-outreach.html#/research... and previously I helped run the Exacycle Visiting Faculty program where we brought in postdocs and professors to use our computational resources.
- navi54 11y agoThats great to know. I thought Google stayed out from academia.