The two Bengaluru-based research institutes, NCBS and ICTS (both under the umbrella of Tata Institute of Fundamental Research), have announced the establishment of CALIBRE — the new centre dedicated to integrating artificial intelligence (AI) into biological research and education. This initiative reflects a growing recognition that advances in life sciences increasingly depend on computational and data-driven methods, and that AI can play a transformative role in biology, from cellular systems to ecological networks.
CALIBRE’s aim is two-fold: first, to build a research hub where AI-based methods (such as machine learning, deep learning, modelling) are applied to biological questions — e.g., genomics, cell dynamics, neuroscience, ecology; second, to create an educational platform that equips students and researchers with the interdisciplinary skills needed to bridge biology and AI. It is an institutional step to formalise what many labs already practice: combining biological experiments with computational inference and large-scale data. The new centre provides dedicated infrastructure, collaborations and a clear identity for this work.
The establishment of CALIBRE comes at a time when biology and AI are converging rapidly. Biological datasets (single-cell data, imaging, genomics, ecological sensors) are expanding in size and complexity, and classical methods struggle to scale. AI offers ways to extract patterns, make predictions, and propose mechanisms. Meanwhile, biological systems pose their own challenges for AI (heterogeneity, non-linear dynamics, multi-scale structure). By institutionalising this nexus, NCBS and ICTS hope to accelerate both tool-development and scientific discovery.
Looking ahead, the centre may have broader implications: it could help position India as a leader in “AI for biology” research, build human capacity in a critical interdisciplinary frontier, and foster collaborations between biologists, computer scientists, engineers and data scientists. At the same time, operational questions remain: how training will be delivered, how projects will be funded and scaled, and how the ethical, societal and governance dimensions of deploying AI in biological systems will be addressed. Nonetheless, CALIBRE represents a timely and strategic move in the global science-landscape.
