--- title: "Google’s newest bet: AI-powered drug discovery - The Hustle" description: Isomorphic Laboratories is Alphabet’s play for the $110B+ drug discovery market. image: https://hs-sbup.thehustle.co/hubfs/The%20Hustle%20News/Assets/Images/1717633780-News-Brief_2021-11-07T232730.720Z.webp --- # Google’s newest bet: AI-powered drug discovery ![Trung T. Phan](https://thehustle.co/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/Image-from-iOS-300x300.jpg?width=48&height=48&name=Image-from-iOS-300x300.jpg) [Trung T. Phan](https://hs-sbup.thehustle.co/author/trung-t-phan) [Trung T. Phan Twitter profile ](https://twitter.com/TrungTPhan) Published: November 08, 2021 Updated: October 11, 2023 *If you’ve never seen protein folding…well here it is (Source: DeepMind)* ![Google’s newest bet: AI-powered drug discovery](https://hs-sbup.thehustle.co/hs-fs/hubfs/The%20Hustle%20News/Assets/Images/1717633780-News-Brief_2021-11-07T232730.720Z.webp?width=595&height=400&name=1717633780-News-Brief_2021-11-07T232730.720Z.webp) Back in 2015, Google [rebranded](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alphabet_Inc.) as Alphabet Inc. The official reason behind the move: Alphabet leadership wanted to create a holding company that would house its various ambitions (AKA “Berkshire Hathaway for tech”). The reality is that “Google” — which houses the search engine, YouTube, Gmail, Workspaces, and Maps — still makes [80%+](https://www.cnbc.com/2021/05/18/how-does-google-make-money-advertising-business-breakdown-.html) of Alphabet revenue. #### **Could a healthcare bet change that?** Last week, Alphabet announced the formation of [Isomorphic Laboratories](https://www.theverge.com/2021/11/4/22763535/google-alphabet-drug-discovery-deepmind-ai), per *The Verge*. The new company is attacking a big problem with huge potential: AI-powered drug discovery. The technology that underpins the company is from Alphabet’s AI arm, DeepMind, which recently made headlines by uncovering — and making freely available — hundreds of millions of AI-discovered [protein structures](https://deepmind.com/blog/article/putting-the-power-of-alphafold-into-the-worlds-hands). #### **Why is this important?** Proteins are long molecules that rebuild human tissue and fight disease. Their function is dictated by their shape, and DeepMind has seemingly cracked the code. According to BCC Research, the market for drug discovery technology will be worth [$110B](https://www.bccresearch.com/market-research/biotechnology/drug-discovery-technologies-report.html#:~:text=The%20global%20market%20for%20drug%20discovery%20technologies%20totaled%20%2454.7%20billion,9.4%25%20during%202017%2D2022.) by 2025. Isomorphic Laboratories is Alphabet’s play to own that market. Whether it succeeds or not, we refuse to ever refer to Google as “Alphabet.” Topics: [Healthcare](https://hs-sbup.thehustle.co/tag/healthcare) [Emerging Tech](https://hs-sbup.thehustle.co/tag/emerging-tech) [Science And Research](https://hs-sbup.thehustle.co/tag/science-and-research) ## Follow us on social media prev next - ![How neuroaesthetics and design affect our health](https://hs-sbup.thehustle.co/hubfs/The%20Hustle%20News/Assets/Images/491644320-19-News-Brief_2023-08-20T224945.374Z.webp) ### How neuroaesthetics and design affect our health - ![Music you can really feel — no, really](https://hs-sbup.thehustle.co/hubfs/The%20Hustle%20News/Assets/Images/644993849-httpsthdaily.s3.us-west-1.amazonaws.comfinal_size-music-headphones_20230821235106.webp) ### Music you can really feel — no, really - ![Cooling the planet is as easy as putting an umbrella on an asteroid and blocking out the sun](https://hs-sbup.thehustle.co/hubfs/The%20Hustle%20News/Assets/Images/474334103-httpsthdaily.s3.us-west-1.amazonaws.comfinal_size-umbrella_20230806234611.webp) ### Cooling the planet is as easy as putting an umbrella on an asteroid and blocking out the sun - ![An opportunity to send your medical anxieties to a whole new level](https://hs-sbup.thehustle.co/hubfs/The%20Hustle%20News/Assets/Images/2133297927-httpsthdaily.s3.us-west-1.amazonaws.comfinal_size-mri_20230627230029.webp) ### An opportunity to send your medical anxieties to a whole new level - ![Life on (not actually) Mars](https://hs-sbup.thehustle.co/hubfs/The%20Hustle%20News/Assets/Images/1923740441-httpsthdaily.s3.us-west-1.amazonaws.comfinal_size-mars_20230705230940.webp) ### Life on (not actually) Mars - ![Indiana Jones inched archaeology forward, but tech is bringing the big leaps](https://hs-sbup.thehustle.co/hubfs/The%20Hustle%20News/Assets/Images/43427626-httpsthdaily.s3.us-west-1.amazonaws.comfinal_size-indy_20230628220428.webp) ### Indiana Jones inched archaeology forward, but tech is bringing the big leaps - ![The legacy of this late Nobel-winning chemist deserves a plug](https://hs-sbup.thehustle.co/hubfs/The%20Hustle%20News/Assets/Images/123054790-httpsthdaily.s3.us-west-1.amazonaws.comfinal_size-goodenough_20230626225558.webp) ### The legacy of this late Nobel-winning chemist deserves a plug - ![The air ambulance industry is looking up](https://hs-sbup.thehustle.co/hubfs/The%20Hustle%20News/Assets/Images/2114681175-httpsthe-hustle.hubspot.comhubfsDaily20Newsletter20ImagesMay2015202023air_ambulance.webp) ### The air ambulance industry is looking up - ![Is egg freezing ready for a high-tech upgrade?](https://hs-sbup.thehustle.co/hubfs/The%20Hustle%20News/Assets/Images/1187929335-19-News-Brief_2023-04-17T235314.313Z.webp) ### Is egg freezing ready for a high-tech upgrade? - ![Don’t pretend you aren’t interested in the world’s largest passenger elevator](https://hs-sbup.thehustle.co/hubfs/The%20Hustle%20News/Assets/Images/1502228928-httpsthe-hustle.hubspot.comhubfsDaily20Newsletter20ImagesApril2011202023elevator.webp) ### Don’t pretend you aren’t interested in the world’s largest passenger elevator Pop up for Subscribe to The Hustle Daily Newsletter Subscribe to The Hustle Daily Newsletter Get the 5-minute news brief keeping 2.5M+ innovators in the loop. Always free. 100% fresh. No bullsh*t. JOIN FREE ### 100% Free CRM Nurture and grow your business with customer relationship management software. Signup for a free account Close modal ```json { "@context" : "https://schema.org", "@type" : "BlogPosting", "author" : { "@type" : "Person", "name" : "Trung T. Phan", "url" : "https://hs-sbup.thehustle.co/news/author/trung-t-phan" }, "datePublished" : "2021-11-08T07:30:42.000Z", "headline" : "Google’s newest bet: AI-powered drug discovery", "image" : [ "https://hs-sbup.thehustle.co/hubfs/The%20Hustle%20News/Assets/Images/1717633780-News-Brief_2021-11-07T232730.720Z.webp" ], "mainEntityOfPage" : { "@id" : "https://hs-sbup.thehustle.co/news/11082021-ai-powered-drug-discovery", "@type" : "WebPage" }, "publisher" : { "@type" : "Organization", "logo" : { "@type" : "ImageObject" } } } ``` ```json { "@context" : "https://schema.org", "@id" : "#article", "@type" : "NewsArticle", "author" : { "@type" : "Person", "name" : "Trung T. 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