Key facts
- Anthropic's AI model Claude identified a novel enzyme system in bacteriophages.
- The system, named ART, exhibits properties similar to CRISPR.
- Claude processed 210 million tokens over 21 hours using 950 AI agents to find the system.
- CRISPR co-inventor Feng Zhang called the find "genuinely intriguing."
- Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei stated the system's precise function and utility are not yet clear.
- Human scientists conducted all laboratory experiments.
Anthropic announced that its AI model, Claude, has identified a novel enzyme system within bacteriophage DNA that exhibits properties similar to CRISPR, capable of DNA editing. The discovery process involved Claude searching through over 200,000 DNA databases, narrowing down candidates to 3,500 unusual ones, and finally to 20 for closer study. This search took 21 hours, utilizing approximately 950 AI agents working in parallel and processing about 210 million tokens. Feng Zhang, a co-inventor of CRISPR, reviewed the pre-print and described the find as "genuinely intriguing," adding that it's an "exciting example of how AI agents can contribute to biological discovery." However, Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei acknowledged that the system's precise function, biotechnological utility, or level of significance is not yet clear, and that similar systems have been previously discovered by Stanford researchers. All laboratory experiments were conducted by human scientists in BSL-1 and BSL-2 labs that do not handle human pathogens.