US-based AI company Anthropic has reported that its Claude AI model independently identified a previously uncharacterised enzyme system associated with DNA repeats resembling CRISPR, highlighting a potential new application of artificial intelligence in biological research.
According to Anthropic, the system was discovered during an AI-assisted research process in which around 950 AI agents worked for more than 21 hours.
The agents examined approximately 3,500 candidate biological systems and narrowed the list down to 20 candidates that researchers could investigate more closely.
The newly identified system was found primarily in bacteriophages, which are viruses that infect bacteria. While its association with CRISPR-like DNA repeats makes the discovery scientifically notable, researchers have not yet established exactly what the enzyme system does or whether it could have any practical applications in gene editing.
Claude was used to carry out computational analysis, examine biological data and generate hypotheses about the potential function of the system.
However, the laboratory work was conducted by human scientists, who performed the experiments needed to investigate and validate the AI-generated findings.
The research illustrates how AI systems could increasingly assist scientists by rapidly searching large amounts of biological information and identifying patterns that may warrant further investigation.
However, the discovery remains an early-stage finding, and further laboratory research will be needed to determine the system’s biological function and possible applications.
