The CERN openlab project BioDynaMo aims to establish a high-performance, general-purpose platform, through which life scientists can easily create, run, and visualise three-dimensional biological simulations. CERN is contributing its knowledge in large-scale computing to this collaboration with Newcastle University and Intel. In 2018, work was carried out to simulate development of neuronal structure in the human retina. As part of its efforts to create smart analysis platforms for science, CERN openlab is working on a project called ‘SmartHealth’ (related to the former GeneROOT project with King’s College London). SmartHealth is investigating the potential for use of artificial-intelligence technologies within such platforms, as a way to support medical practitioners. CERN’s digital repositories, Zenodo and CDS, provide excellent testing grounds for interpreting the decision-making processes of AI deep-learning models.