AI Designs New Viruses Not Found in Nature
The study produced 16 viable bacteriophages and raised new questions about biosafety and oversight as AI systems move into genome design.
- Stanford University researchers used artificial intelligence to design 16 fully functional, replicable bacteriophages, marking the first time generative AI has designed a complete, viable viral genome.
- The team trained AI models on genetic codes to predict DNA sequences, then synthesized 302 promising designs after modeling them on the X174 phage template.
- Of 285 outputs tested, 16 phages proved viable, with many demonstrating greater effectiveness at killing bacteria than the original template; these viruses pose no threat to humans.
- Experts Thomas Inglesby and Moritz Hanke from the Johns Hopkins University Center for Health Security warned the findings raise "urgent biosafety and biosecurity questions," while Hie argued the potential to "massively improve human health" outweighs risks.
- This study represents a "very significant turning point" in synthetic biology, according to Prof Marc from Pompeu Fabra University, with researchers now exploring whether AI can design even more complex organisms.
181 Articles
181 Articles
American scientists teach a program to produce unknown viruses, some want to use the pathogens to treat diseases, others warn: such an invention can also be misused.
Study shows AI can design bacteriophages with potential to overcome bacterial resistance
Scientists used genome language models to design complete bacteriophage genomes, with laboratory tests showing that some could infect E. coli and overcome resistance to a naturally occurring phage
Researchers have designed new viruses using artificial intelligence, which could bring a breakthrough in the fight against antibiotic-resistant infections, but raises serious safety questions.
Scientists used an artificial intelligence program to create viral genomes different from those of any known viruses in nature and...
The turning point of Stanford and Arc Institute: a generative system has designed functional viral genomes
For the first time, scientists in the United States used artificial intelligence to create viruses that do not exist in nature, a milestone in synthetic biology that promises advances in health care, but also raises important concerns about biosecurity and protection against misuse. Researchers at Stanford University developed a generative AI program called Evo 2, which writes new genomes – the genetic instructions for life encoded in DNA. And t…
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