Researchers used artificial intelligence to create 16 new viruses capable of being reproduced in a lab to fight antibiotic resistant infections \u2014 but experts warn that the computer-made pathogens pose \u201curgent\u201d safety risks, including fears it could be used to create bioweapons.<\/p>\n
The Stanford University experiment used an AI model known as Evo1 and Evo2, which instead of modeling language of a text, like ChatGPT, are trained to predict genetic codes of viruses, bacteria, plants and even people, according to the BBC<\/a>.<\/p>\n The AI produced hundreds of designs of a specific type of virus known as bacteriophage to infect E.Coli bacteria, of which 16 were successful, according to the study, which was first published in the journal Science.<\/p>\n Stanford University\u2019s Brian Hie examines a protein structure generated by Evo2, an AI genome design tool.<\/p>\n Developing new bacteriophages could lead to new ways of treating infections<\/a> that have become resistant to antibiotics, the researchers said.<\/p>\n It is the first time entire genomes have been successfully designed by AI.<\/p>\n \u201cThis is a next step in the complexity that\u2019s designable by generative AI, this is the first time generative AI has been used to design a complete genome, it\u2019s something that can replicate and have other functions inside cells\u2026 this was new territory for us,\u201d Brian Hie, assistant professor at Stanford University, told the BBC.<\/p>\n