How Scientists Are Using VR To Study The Coronavirus

Source: The Information, Mathew Olson
Photo: A Nanome user building a molecule with benzene rings. (Nanome)

Researcher Andrey Kovalevsky often dons an Oculus Rift S virtual reality headset as part of his work studying new ways to combat Covid-19. His research team is working on one of the many remaining mysteries surrounding the coronavirus: how to shut down one of the viral proteins that would stop it from reproducing.

One of Kovalevsky’s tools is a VR app developed by the San Diego-based startup Nanome, which licenses its technology to scientists researching diseases and pharmaceutical companies trying to design new drugs. The startup is one of several that wants to prove VR is useful to scientists. Nanome raised $3 million earlier this year, bolstered in part by new urgency for drug development amid the pandemic.

Kovalevsky, a senior R&D scientist at Tennessee’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory, said he started using Nanome three years ago. In addition to his Covid research, Kovalevsky has used Nanome while designing antidotes against nerve agents and pesticides.

“Without VR, it is difficult to comprehend the three-dimensional of a protein,” said Kovalevsky.

Molecules the Size of Buildings

Nanome co-founders Steve McCloskey and Keita Funakawa met as undergraduates at University of California, San Diego. McCloskey studied nanoengineering, while Funakawa studied visual arts and economics and watched his first VR film at the San Diego Film Festival.

They formed Nanome in 2015, just before HTC and Oculus released their first headsets. Like other VR collaboration tools, Nanome’s main appeal is allowing scientists to inspect molecules and proteins as if they were the size of small buildings. Ordinary labs don’t allow for that kind of perspective.

That became clear as McCloskey and Funakawa walked me through a demo of Nanome in VR. With a few clicks in a VR menu, we could look at a giant model of the main protease of the virus officially known as SARS-CoV-2.

The protease—an enzyme that chops up other proteins and aids in the virus’ replication—is the prime subject of Covid research for Kovalesky and many others. While vaccines are essential for preventing infection and controlling the spread of Covid-19, there’s still an urgent need for effective antivirals. “If you could shut it off and stop that [enzyme], then you really hinder the virus’s ability to reproduce,” McCloskey, CEO, said.

Nanome lets users see and manipulate molecules in three dimensions, build chemicals atom-by-atom and simulate the ways proteins move. The app also can provide a better experience than the 2D alternative: peering over a single screen.

“Even before the Covid-19 lockdown, the standard for collaboration for a lot of these legacy computational chemist tools is looking over the shoulder of somebody using a monitor,” Funakawa said.

The World’s VR Chemistry Set

Nanome grew during the pandemic. The company saw 50% more in downloads in the year spanning March 2020 and March 2021, compared to the previous year. Most of Nanome’s business comes by way of licensing to biopharmaceutical companies, but most of its users are academics, who buy cheaper licenses. Its backers include Bullpen Capital, which also invested in BeBop Sensors, a startup making fabric sensors that can be used in AR/VR input gloves.

Nanome’s makers want the app to reach more consumers, rather than enterprise users, as VR adoption grows. (The basic version is available for free on Steam and Oculus by way of the App Lab). Funakawa hopes people with an interest in science will treat Nanome as though it were the scientific equivalent of Photoshop. The company has already created some educational Chemistry 101 content through new recording features. The startup hopes to spur users to create their own content in that vein.

But it faces many of the regular challenges for VR startups, including the high cost of PC VR hardware. Educational VR also still has a big hill to climb, as VR entertainment dominates mainstream attention.

“It would be awesome to see more of these manufacturers promote productivity and education as a category,” Funakawa said, “rather than putting gaming on the forefront, because I think that hugely undersells the possibilities right now.”

Mathew Olson is the writer for The Information’s Reality Check, a newsletter devoted to following trends, innovations and news in AR and VR. He is based in New York and can be reached by email at mathew@theinformation.com.

https://www.theinformation.com/articles/how-scientists-are-using-vr-to-study-the-coronavirus