≈40%
Of pharmaceutical products draw on nature and traditional knowledge.
A broad estimate reported by the World Health Organization in 2023.
WHO �� 2023
Augmented NatureLet’s talk New medicines.
Rooted in nature.
We bring nature’s chemical imagination together with AI to design the next possibilities in medicine.
Explore our approachLife is the original
inventor.
Nature creates extraordinary chemistry. We’re building AI to explore it, imagine new drug candidates, and plan how biology could make them.
Inspired by natural compounds on land and in the sea. Reimagined through AI design and biosynthesis.
Learn from nature
Our starting point is the chemistry of living systems, on land and in the sea. Natural compounds offer a rich source of inspiration for imagining new medicines.
We’re building AI to explore that diversity and uncover molecular ideas worth investigating. Nature provides the inspiration; each possibility opens a new research question.
Inspired by what life creates.
Curious about how it’s made.
Design the molecule.
Imagine the route.
A new molecular idea raises another question: how could biology make it? We’re exploring AI that brings biosynthesis planning into the discovery process.
A pathway connects a starting molecule to a desired product through a sequence of biological transformations. Thinking about that route early gives molecular design another perspective.
- Which transformations would be needed?
- Which enzymes might support them?
- Where would experimental work be needed?
- Starting
molecule - Enzyme
steps - Candidate
molecule
Nature has already
changed medicine.
A tree. A microbe. A life beneath the sea. Some of medicine’s most remarkable discoveries began in unexpected places.
These stories are part of the field’s shared history. They’re why we look to living chemistry for new possibilities.
64.9%
Of new small-molecule cancer drugs in one analysis had a natural-product connection.
120 of 185 drugs, January 1981–September 2019. Includes natural products, derivatives, and synthetic drugs with natural-product pharmacophores.
Newman & Cragg · 2020Different populations and definitions; these figures are not directly comparable. They describe published work across medicine, not Augmented Nature results.
From living source
to medicine.
Explore six origin stories, from natural compounds to molecules designed in their image.
Showing 6 medicines: all origins.
Plants
Pacific yew
Taxus brevifoliaPaclitaxel
Cancer treatmentNatural product
First isolated from Pacific yew bark, paclitaxel became an important cancer medicine. Its story connects a forest discovery with decades of drug development.
National Cancer InstitutePlants
Sweet wormwood
Artemisia annuaArtemisinin
Antimalarial therapiesNatural product
Tu Youyou’s work on sweet wormwood led to the isolation of artemisinin. The discovery became a foundation for a new generation of malaria treatments.
Tu Youyou · Nobel PrizeMicrobes
Penicillium mold
Penicillium speciesPenicillin
AntibioticsNatural product
A mold growing on a bacterial culture plate released a substance that inhibited nearby bacteria. That observation opened the path to penicillin antibiotics.
Alexander Fleming · Nobel lectureMicrobes
Soil bacterium
Streptomyces hygroscopicusSirolimus
ImmunosuppressionNatural product
Also known as rapamycin, sirolimus is made by a bacterium isolated from soil collected on Rapa Nui. A microbial discovery led to a medicine that suppresses immune activity.
Sehgal, 2003 · PubMedMarine life
Magician cone snail
Conus magusZiconotide
Severe chronic painSynthetic equivalent
A peptide in cone-snail venom inspired a medicine for severe chronic pain. Ziconotide is a synthetic equivalent of the natural peptide, rather than venom harvested for treatment.
FDA · Prialt label, §11Marine life
Marine sponge
Halichondria okadaiEribulin
Cancer treatmentSynthetic analogue
The sponge compound halichondrin B provided the starting point. Eribulin is a structurally simplified, synthetic analogue—an example of redesigning nature’s chemistry into a medicine.
FDA · Halaven label, §11Original discovery sources are shown here; today’s manufacturing methods may differ. These established medicines are independent examples, not part of an Augmented Nature pipeline.
Explore the questions aheadIntroducing Darwin AIAn Augmented Nature platform
A new species
of research.
Meet your next research collective. An autonomous drug discovery platform where specialized biomedical agents work together on your scientific questions.
Connected knowledge. Coordinated intelligence.
More room for the questions that matter.
Start with a question.
Follow the connections.
Darwin AI is being built for research that spans disciplines. These example briefs show the kinds of questions we want to explore with you.
What connects this target to the biology of a disease?
Explore this in a demoResearch perspectives to bring together
- Literature
- Map the studies behind the proposed connection.
- Pathways
- Explore the biological processes around the target.
- Evidence
- Identify conflicting findings and open questions.
Illustrative research briefs. Scientific conclusions require evidence review and experimental validation.
Ask a question. Connect the science.Explore what comes next.
Research,
shared.
We’re contributing to the conversation on how agentic AI can support scientific discovery.
AI agents in drug discovery: applications and case studies
A review of how AI agents connect tools, data, and scientific workflows across drug discovery—and the challenges of making those systems reliable.
Moudather Chelbi, Augmented Nature, contributed through the AIA4S Consortium.
DOI: 10.1016/j.drudis.2026.104650
A few questions,
answered.
Get to know what we’re building,
and where the conversation can begin.
Are you developing medicines or research software?
Both are part of our vision. Augmented Nature is developing AI for drug design and discovery inspired by natural compounds, alongside biosynthesis planning. Darwin AI is our agentic platform for exploring biomedical research questions.
What does “inspired by nature” mean?
We look to compounds from plants, microbes, and marine life as starting points for new molecular ideas. Our focus includes using AI to design novel drug candidates inspired by those structures.
How does Darwin AI fit into the picture?
Drug discovery raises questions across chemistry, biology, and the scientific literature. We’re building Darwin AI so specialized biomedical agents can work together across these perspectives, helping researchers explore a question in context.
What stage is Augmented Nature at?
We’re an early-stage company building our technology and shaping our research direction. The medicines in our nature library are historical examples from the field. We welcome conversations with researchers and potential collaborators, and you can request a Darwin AI demo through our contact form.
The next discovery
starts with a conversation.
Ask about our approach, explore a collaboration, or request a Darwin AI demo.
hello@augmentednature.ai