Smithsonian Magazine · People & society

AI Discovers Novel Enzyme System Resembling CRISPR

Anthropic's AI, Claude, has identified a new enzyme system with similarities to the gene-editing technology CRISPR. The discovery, detailed in a preprint study, marks a significant step in AI's potential for biological research, though the enzyme's function remains unknown.

Researchers tasked approximately 950 AI agents with searching a DNA database for reverse transcriptases. One agent identified an unusual reverse transcriptase alongside a partner gene and repeating DNA sequences, forming an array-associated reverse transcriptase (ART), a structure also found in CRISPR.

While the AI found the enzyme embedded in the ART, human researchers confirmed it was a previously uncharacterized system in bacteriophages. The ART's similarities to CRISPR, which also has repeating DNA sequences and helps microbes fight viruses, are a point of excitement.

The discovery is comparable to the initial finding of CRISPR's repeating sequences in 1987, rather than the later development of its gene-editing capabilities. The precise function and utility of the new ART system are currently unclear.

Experts acknowledge the AI's ability to detect complex biological patterns, suggesting AI could accelerate the exploration of nature's vast molecular systems. However, questions have arisen regarding potential AI influence from user data, which Anthropic denies.

This situation follows a similar controversy where OpenAI's ChatGPT was credited with solving a math problem that Anthropic employees were also working on with AI assistance.

Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei noted that while math can be theoretical, biology requires experimentation, but he believes AI's utility in biology will not be limited.

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