Agentic AI in the life sciences – toward trustworthy research environments

Sebastian Lobentanzer

NBIS and SciLifeLab Data Centre arrange an open SciLifeLab AI Seminar Series aimed at knowledge-sharing about Artificial Intelligence and applications in the Life Science community. The seminar series is open to everyone. The seminar is run over Zoom on the third Friday of the month during academic terms, typically between 10 and 11 am, with approx. 45 min presentation and 15 min discussion.

When: February 13, 10:00-11:00

Where: Zoom

Speaker: Sebastian Lobentanzer (Computational Biology at Helmholtz Center Munich). The speaker is a Principal Investigator at the Institute of Computational Biology at Helmholtz Center Munich since 2025, and in affiliation with the Open Targets group at the European Bioinformatics Institute (EMBL-EBI) since 2024. Sebasitian also serves as the head of Computational Biology at the German Center for Diabetes Research.

Read more about the speaker here .

Abstract

Agentic AI systems promise to improve the accessibility and efficiency of biomedical research, yet generic large language model (LLM)–based agents often lack the reliability, transparency, and reproducibility required for scientific use. We present BioChatter, a modular, ontology-grounded agentic AI framework designed as the basis for an Integrated Research Environment (IRE) for biomedicine. BioChatter orchestrates LLMs, biomedical knowledge representations, and domain-specific tools within transparent and auditable workflows, enabling domain-aware reasoning and traceable data flows from raw data to scientific conclusions.

Following a benchmark-first development paradigm, BioChatter supports systematic evaluation of agent behavior, reasoning strategies, and tool use prior to deployment. Using extensible interfaces such as the Model Context Protocol, the framework enables interoperable, community-driven extension while maintaining clear separation between reasoning, knowledge, and execution layers. By moving beyond chatbot-style interactions toward reproducible research workflows, BioChatter demonstrates how agentic AI can evolve from opaque assistants into trustworthy research partners for the life sciences.

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