AI used to design brand new viruses not found in nature

Experts Reaction.

• Bacteriophages kill bacteria, and scientists hope engineered phages could work as new antibiotics.
• Researchers applied a generative AI model, called Evo 2, to this challenge. Given a starting place – in this case bacteriophage ΦX174 – Evo 2 suggested new DNA sequences.
• Based on genomes written by Evo 2, the researchers synthesized and tested nearly 300 phages for effectiveness against E. coli. They ended up with 16 that proved exceptional.
• Given its potential, the researchers have made Evo 2 openly and freely available. Acknowledging safety concerns, they point to the importance of having tools like Evo 2 to address existing natural pathogens and the ability to build safety checks into AI tools – something that doesn’t happen when pathogens evolve naturally.