Accelerated knowledge discovery from omics data by optimal experimental design

How to design experiments that accelerate knowledge discovery on complex biological landscapes remains a tantalizing question. Here, we present OPEX, an optimal experimental design method to identify informative omics experiments for both experimental space exploration and model training. OPEX-guided exploration of  Escherichia coli's cross-behavior potential, when exposed to novel biocide and antibiotic combinations, led to accelerated knowledge discovery with predictive models that are more accurate while needing 44% fewer data to train. Selecting experiments favoring broader exploration followed by fine-tuning emerged as the optimal strategy. This led to the discovery of 29 cross-protection and 4 cross-vulnerability conditions, with further validation revealing the central role of chaperones, stress response proteins and transport pumps in cross-stress exposure. This work demonstrates how active learning can be used to automate omics data collection for training accurate predictive models, evidence-driven decision making and accelerated knowledge discovery in life sciences.