AI has successfully designed and "grown" 16 synthetic viruses, marking a new era of biological engineering that balances medical breakthroughs against potential security threats.

 

 

AI has successfully designed and "grown" 16 synthetic viruses, marking a new era of biological engineering that balances medical breakthroughs against potential security threats.

 

Recent breakthroughs in artificial intelligence have allowed researchers to generate complete viral genomes from scratch, leading to the successful creation of 16 functional bacteriophages in the lab. These "genome-language models" analyze thousands of DNA sequences to predict and build entirely new biological structures. While these AI-built viruses currently target bacteria rather than humans, they represent a significant dual-use dilemma. On one hand, these tailored viruses could provide life-saving treatments for antibiotic-resistant infections; on the other, the ability to engineer biological agents from digital data presents an unprecedented challenge for global biosecurity.

 

The risk is further intensified by findings from Microsoft Research, which demonstrate that AI can redesign known toxins to evade standard DNA synthesis safety checks. By altering the genetic sequences of dangerous proteins, AI can make them unrecognizable to current screening filters while maintaining their lethal function. In response, scientists are racing to integrate advanced structural algorithms into commercial screening pipelines to identify these disguised sequences. Federal policies are now shifting to require stricter nucleic-acid screening for research funding, turning these technological vulnerabilities into a new playbook for defending against AI-assisted biological threats.

source: Villellas, A.. AI can now create viruses from scratch, one step away from the perfect biological weapon.