Bio Protocol (@BioProtocol): Bio Monthly (July 2026): The White House Backs Open Science, PeptAI Goes to the Lab, Research Agents

Bio Monthly (July 2026): The White House Backs Open Science, PeptAI Goes to the Lab, Research Agents Highlights from July in the Biosphere 🌐 This month the White House published a report, "Science: A New Golden Age." Its recommendations align closely with what Bio has been building. It calls for funding scientists directly through regranting, instead of routing everything through consensus peer review. It also calls for AI-native scientific institutions, with faster open publishing and new ways to fund the work that matters. That is the shift already underway across the Biosphere. A White House Report Backs Open Science A White House report on the future of research funding landed this month, and the recommendations sounded familiar: back individual scientists rather than institutions, and build open infrastructure that keeps scientific contributions traceable and auditable. It is the argument Bio and the wider DeSci ecosystem have made for years. Read more ↓ A Research Agent for the Bio Community BIOS showed that an agent can take a target from prompt to ranked drug candidate. Now we want a version built around how each researcher works. We've started building a research agent that keeps the BIOS engine but adapts to your own domain, evidence standards, and workflow. We're designing it with the community from the start, asking researchers and AI builders how they actually work and where an agent should stop and check first. Take the survey ↓ Super Human 2026: The Architecture of Longevity Bio founder @paulkhls joined a panel on the architecture of longevity at Super Human Summit 2026 exploring the environments and systems that shape human health. Super Human is an invitation-only gathering in Sweden, bringing together people shaping the future of science, technology, and human evolution. Recordings will be available later this month. Bio on the ground in New York The Bio community spent time in New York this month, with two stops. Catalyst NYC, hosted by @ResearchHub, covered translational science, funding models, and open science infrastructure. DeSciNYC ran a Peptides 101 session. If you are building in material science, enzyme engineering, microbial strain engineering, or small molecule discovery, we want to meet: DM @oxMichelangelo. PeptAI's Next Experiments PeptAI (@peptai_) confirmed its next experiments for two programs: KISS1R (fertility) and OX2R (ADHD and sleep). Its agents designed two lead peptides for each, four in total, which so far exist only as predictions on a computer. All four are now heading to a real lab for the first time, where they will first be synthesized and then tested on living cells carrying the target receptor to see whether they switch it on, how strongly, and how selectively. This is the first real test of these designs, and whatever comes back feeds straight into the next round. Network & Community Updates VitaDAO (@vitadao) welcomed Michael Torres, PhD (@Mykalt45) as a Core Advisor. He took a platform from lab bench to clinic to a ~$300M Eli Lilly acquisition (CrossBridge Bio), co-founded ReCode, and is the scientist behind VitaRNA. His project ARTAN Bio started inside VitaDAO with a $90K grant. That led to a $300K follow-on, which funded the tokenized IP behind the VitaRNA token, and more recently a $1M investment at a $4M pre-money valuation. Now he is helping build VitaDAO's crypto and biotech playbook. Molecule (@molecule_sci) published an article analyzing "Science: A New Golden Age," the recent report from the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy on what needs to change in American research funding. AthenaDAO (@athenabiorg) hosted "Menopause and Fertility," a deep dive into the science of extending, delaying, and potentially ending menopause. Speakers included Dr. Kutluk Oktay (@kutlukoktay) on ovarian cryopreservation, Dr. Mario Cordero (@CorderoMarioD) on drugs to extend fertility, Riva Tez (@rivatez) on the case for gentler fertility medicine, and Cremieux (@cremieuxrecueil) on where bio and AI intersect. Recap below. HairDAO (@anagenxyz) offered free trichoscans to their community in NYC, giving people a read on where they stand in their hair loss journey. SpineDAO (@Spine_DAO) has a new call for papers open. @FrontiersIn in Blockchain is running a research topic, "Blockchain Applications Beyond Decentralized Finance: Stablecoins, Real-World Assets, and Decentralized Science," co-edited by SpineDAO founder Vincent Challier (@challaire) and Nassim Dehouche. They welcome original research, reviews, methods papers, community case studies, data reports, and policy briefs, and you can send a manuscript summary for a preliminary read before writing the full paper. Submissions are open now until February 28, 2027. Quantum Biology DAO (@QuantumBioDAO) founder Clarice D'Aiello (@ClariceDAiello) joined a panel on extremophiles and human adaptation at "Designing the Future of Space," an Atlantic Space Hub conference held in Santa Maria, Azores. PsyDAO (@psy_dao) shared their project updates covering research across psychedelic medicine, endogenous DMT, autonomous science, and Amazonian art, now live at psydao.world. ValleyDAO (@valley_dao)'s HEMPY project was presented at the 23rd EIHA Conference in Poland. The European Industrial Hemp Association Conference is a leading event for the industrial hemp sector, bringing together researchers, manufacturers, investors, and innovators to shape the future of hemp. Stay updated via Telegram, Discord, and the Governance forum. Follow @BioProtocolEco for real-time updates.