Dropping Nvidia for Amazon's custom chips helped gene therapy startup Metagenomi cut AI bill 56%

Gene editing startup Metagenomi has tapped AWS's Inferentia 2 accelerators to speed the discovery of potentially life-saving therapies, and said its efforts cost 56 percent less than it would have incurred using Nvidia GPUs.

Founded in 2018, Metagenomi is using a Nobel prize-winning approach developed by Jennifer Doudna and Emmanuelle Charpentier called CRISPR, which allows for the targeted editing of gene sequences.

"Gene editing is a new therapeutic modality aimed at treating disease by addressing the cause of disease at the genetic level. So rather than treating the symptoms, actually going after a cure," Chris Brown, VP of discovery at Metagenomi, told El Reg.

These therapies rely on identifying enzymes – essentially biological catalysts that facilitate chemical reactions – that can bind to the RNA sequences that guide them to their destination, cut the target DNA in the right spot, and – critically – fit in the delivery mechanism of choice.

To find ...