Scientists have made the first viruses designed by artificial intelligence in a milestone that raises hopes for new medicines but also concerns over how to ensure the technology remains safe.
The viruses are specific kinds known as bacteriophages, which only infect bacteria and are used around the world to treat patients with persistent infections. In lab tests, a cocktail of the AI-designed viruses killed E* coli* bugs that were resistant to natural bacteriophages.
Dr Brian Hie, a chemical engineer at Stanford University in California, used genome language models, the genetic equivalent of the large language models behind AI chatbots, to design functioning genomes for bacteriophages. The viruses were then made in the laboratory and pitted against E* coli* in a dish.
The ability to “rapidly design” genomes and tune them for specific bugs while overcoming resistance could “transform phage therapy” and “expand biotechnological toolkits”, the researchers wrote in the journal Science.
dug deeper, this is bacteriophage research, and the genome model just gave them the genomes and they made the bacteriophage
this is cure research as it bacteriophages infect and destroy bacteria
this could be groundbreaking as they were able to infect bacteria that normal bacteriophages couldnt
-
does it actually exist or is it a “simulation” again
-
we’ve been using ai for decades, just not like the llm ai
-
Pray for NUKES 💥
Pretty soon it’ll be like “The Stand”.
Why the fuck would they give it that ability? Oh right, to kill people. Thanks US government.
It’s a bacteriophage, a proposed replacement for antibiotics. It cannot hurt you, it is meant to save your life in the future.
Lmao.
And you think the country responsible for untold death and destruction, that’s lead by war criminal pedophile rapists, isn’t working on super viruses secretly as well?
I didn’t say that. I said THIS research is specifically good because it is set to replace antibiotics, which have a well-known expiration date. I can celebrate medical advances without condoning governments that may use the discoveries for evil. Are you of the position that any technology with the capacity to harm should be banned? Or, what is the alternative research method you’re proposing?
My proposal is sanctioning America out of existence, forced disarmament, and balkanization. You cannot be trusted, as history shows again and again.
You? Do you think I’m an American?
They*
Fair.
Would this identical research be acceptable then, had it come from a different nation?
oh the progress
Umbrella Corporation is coming along nicely, I guess?
Oh cool, wait no, this is probubbly bad actually.
That graphic looks like the cover of an O’Reilly book
Every movie ever: Don’t worry, it can’t escape the lab!
Are you a bacterium?
No?
You’re fine
You realize your body is host to literally trillions of bacteriaphages right now? “Virus” doesn’t automatically mean universal infecting agent. They need to be calibrated to specific bio-markers. Most bacteriaphages only infect a SINGLE species of bacteria.
And before you mention mutations and cross-species jumps, there is a very big difference between the viruses that infect you and I, and bacteriaphages. There has never, ever, not even one single solitary time, been an instance of a bacteriaphage suddenly mutating to start infecting macro-organisms.
There has never, ever, not even one single solitary time, been an instance of a bacteriaphage suddenly mutating to start infecting macro-organisms.
True and correct. And even modifying towards that isn’t really worthwhile because there’s better delivery mechanisms than bacteriophages for those avenues.
But that doesn’t mean improperly tailored bacteriophagy therapy isn’t a concern for some macro-organisms. Like the kind that tends to operate with biology that is tightly interwoven with microbial life, even to degrees we have not yet fully made in-roads into enough understanding yet. Macro-organisms, like Humans.
They need to be calibrated to specific bio-markers. Most bacteriaphages only infect a SINGLE species of bacteria.
Yes. A real limitation of the approach some might say, especially anything naturally selected for. Wait, did I say might say?
https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC11876824/
Even from the abstract dated two years ago, you should be able to glimpse the fact that there’s multiple approaches under study to circumvent these limits. It is very required if the technology is to live to it’s potential. From nano-particles supplementary structures (with as of yet unknown immune responses), to phage cocktails. A lot of good science that could be easily carried out wrongly in the future, given the right causes or incentives or plain bad luck.
Imagine we get to the vibecoding equivalent of this (I know it seems absurd, but so has everything else)? Epidemics of lactose intolerance, nutrient malabsorption, and mental health crises, because a future FDA went even more…whatever the hell they currently are doing. I want my body’s microbiota to only be subject to my abuses.
Okay, those are fair concerns, and it’s refreshing to see actual founded rebuttals instead of the slack jawed “But science scary!”
True, an improperly built phage could cause some harm. But the goal is to make killers, not modifiers. And most of what you covered is powered by enzymes your body makes, not bacteria in your gut. And worst case scenario, let’s say it does affect some of the microbes that assist in nutrient absorption, the answer to that is to nuke your gut, and get a faecal transplant. Not ideal, but very common.
Could this go awry? Yes, in the ways ALL medical research has the potential to go awry. But this is an objectively positive discovery that is undoubtedly going to save millions, maybe even billions of lives. Antibiotics is something that truly changed the course of our species, but it’s effectiveness is limited, and we’re nearing the end. This is a proposed answer to it, that will prevent you from dying of simple infections.
Demonizing it helps nobody.
Literally my first thought.
That’s called a cognitohazard. An infohazard. Just that knowledge existing is dangerous.
Just wait until we get 3D biological printers that can print protein chains at home.
If we make it there. The fire tornadoes say that maybe climate apocalypse has it first. Though nuclear might take the winner since the US has a pedophile manbaby in office that can never admit defeat currently engaged in a lost war.
If only we learned something from Michael Crichton.
If you’re looking for a thought inducing thing to read, get yourself his “Prey”.
I’m guessing it created it the same way i created a giant eight limbed creature called an Octophant, using a piece of paper and a pencil.
It does not make it exist.
A version of this came out of a DND campaign. They’re called octen. Like oxen, but octen. They’re like regular oxen, except they have eight legs. The legs have the same fur and color as cattle legs, but then bend up and move like a tarantula’s.
Yes and no. Going from a design to production takes remarkably little time these days.
So you just scan his picture of an octophant and print it out and it exists? I’d bet you have a bunch of meat and no life. That said, please spend the time and effort into something more productive instead of a octophant was the point
That said, please spend the time and effort into something more productive
Like curing antibiotic-resistant bacterial diseases? Because that’s what the experiment was for.
An octophant is a bacterial disease? Lol
And yes this experiment may be an absolutely stupid thing to do. Could it work out in a extremely well regulated extremely tight secure facility, sure.
Is that happening, not in the U.S., we are cutting all the regulations and health precautions, so if what they create ever kills good bacteria as well during the tests, you should assume it will be spreading to the population.
Why wasn’t it contained? Our research grants were cut in half so we skipped on the precautions. Also the regulatory board no longer exists, and our OSHA equivalent hasn’t stopped by in over 2 years. I think they may have shut down
According to this non-paywalled article, it created thousands of potential genomes from which the scientists running the experiment chose three hundred promising candidates. They then had bacteria make those and used them for their bacteriophagy experiment. So essentially the AI made the blueprints that the scientists then turned into real stuff.
Let’s get real here. Could the bacteria make my Octophant if I clean up the pencil lines?!
Cat girls first dangit! Get in line.
Unfortunately the science hasn’t gotten that far yet, but maybe in the future.
So the AI’s role in all this, given that creating new viruses in a lab is already understood and well-practiced, was just to generate a list of virus configuration options (presumably working from existing examples), from which scientists had to discard ~90% of what the AI generated before moving on to the next step.
Sounds like an attempt at a headline more than a genuine scientific effort.
Scientists had no clue at all how to design bacteriophages is my understanding. Only with the help of LLM have they been able to generate the first man-made bacteriophages ever.
So the AI’s role in this process, which is already known and well-practiced,
Uh… no? Creating custom-made genomes for curing specific diseases isn’t “known and well-practiced;” it’s an area of active research.
from which scientists had to discard ~90% of what the AI generated before moving on to the next step.
That’s basically in line with how AI is used in similar applications; even if most of what you get is busts AI can make so much stuff that it can compete with (or even outdo) other alternatives by sheer quantity. Sure someone has to filter out the useful stuff from the trash, but the very fact that it produces useful stuff makes it worth it. This method is well-established in other areas, so there’s no reason to dismiss it here.
Same way we all created the sun, and built a house next to it as children. All without picking up a hammer. Lazy kids.
Yes and no. Going from a design to production takes remarkably little time these days.
Assuming that it will work from the first try
I mean, it’s a known process.
There’s a YouTube channel called Thought Emporium.
The guy used to do live streams were he designed custom DNA, and then ordered it from a lab that could produce it.
It was a simple commercial transaction.
I used to work in a wet lab. Agree, designing or multiplying DNA is not a problem. The problem is to make it stable and do what you intend it to do. This could be done only by allowing ai to control the whole process with minimal human interaction
Same question to you, why would you do this?
Consider the military and industrial applications of the octophant.
[You Have Been Reported to the Raytheon Ethics Board]
[All Clear. Proceed]
[Congratulations on your Sydney gottlieb ethics in STEM award! The bonus should show up in your account by Monday!]
The hubris of man.
“AI cloned Will Smith and then filmed him eating spaghetti!” …the media are fucking lost when it comes to AI news. They’re just creating propaganda at this point.
