One of the largest and most significant laboratory mergers in recent years is the newly created New Laboratory for Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, now one of the largest research labs in the world, headed by Rodney Brooks.

The merger came about as MIT scientists realized that the distinction between computing science and AI had become blurred over the past few years.

Among the goals: working with genomes to get digital control over what’s happening inside living cells so scientists can encourage them to produce specific drugs or even grow things that are normally manufactured; pervasive computing; and modernizing operating rooms.