The computer did not create a virus. It did not touch a test tube or handle a living cell. What it did may ultimately be more consequential: it helped decide what the virus’s genome should be.
Features and Changes
Researchers at Stanford University and the Arc Institute used artificial intelligence (AI) to design complete genomes of bacteriophages – viruses that infect bacteria. Some were able to overcome bacterial resistance that defeated the original virus. Humans have been synthesising viral genomes and deliberately modifying viruses for decades. What is new, is not the physical manufacture of a virus. AI has entered the design stage of biology. For medicine, that creates remarkable opportunities. For biosecurity, it raises equally important questions.
The phrase ‘AI-created viruses’ therefore needs qualification. Of 285 AI-generated designs physically synthesised and tested in the laboratory, 16 produced functioning phages.
