May 19, 2026　Science

Accelerating the discovery of liver disease mechanisms

Biomedical research generates vast amounts of information that no scientist could ever fully absorb. Filippo Menolascina, a bioengineer at the University of Edinburgh, is using Co-Scientist to sift through the literature, find overlooked connections, and generate new hypotheses.

His team is focused on a common liver disease: metabolic dysfunction-associated steatohepatitis (MASH). Because MASH involves intertwined biological processes, including liver inflammation and metabolism, developing treatments is challenging, which means single-target drugs are often not enough. This has pushed researchers toward combination therapies, but the number of possible drug pairings is staggering.

Faced with this combinatorial explosion, Menolascina used Co-Scientist to narrow the search. In his hands, Co-Scientist integrated evidence from liver biology and pharmacology, highlighting mechanisms worth prioritizing and flagging candidate combination therapies that his team could test.

In one representative case, Co-Scientist tackled a practical real-world question: why does resmetirom — a recently approved treatment for patients with certain stages of MASH — help only a small fraction of eligible patients? The system proposed a hypothesis identifying the NLRP3 inflammasome as a specific molecular bridge linking inflammation and metabolism, something that had not previously been integrated into a single, actionable explanation. That hypothesis was later experimentally validated, potentially paving the way for a targeted dual therapy.

Co-Scientist is like a rocket booster for scientists, enhancing our ability to identify promising mechanisms. I think we are on the brink of a scientific revolution that will dramatically shorten the iteration cycle needed to achieve breakthroughs

Professor Filippo Menolascina

University of Edinburgh