AI creates 16 new viruses that never existed in nature after learning DNA’s pattern from 9 trillion nucleotides — experts warn such applications are way ahead of necessary guardrails
According to a New York Times report, researchers trained a genomic AI model to design complete DNA sequences for viruses, then chemically built the results and watched some come to life. Much as a language model learns which combinations of words tend to make sense, Evo learned which combinations of nucleotides tend to produce biologically meaningful sequences.Scientists have been synthesizing viruses for decades, typically to study how they work and to test antiviral drugs and vaccines. In these projects, researchers typically use the genetic sequence of a virus that already exists to manufacture new ones.
- ▪According to a New York Times report, researchers trained a genomic AI model to design complete DNA sequences for viruses, then chemically built the results and watched some come to life.
- ▪Much as a language model learns which combinations of words tend to make sense, Evo learned which combinations of nucleotides tend to produce biologically meaningful sequences.Scientists have been synthesizing viruses for decades, typically
- ▪In these projects, researchers typically use the genetic sequence of a virus that already exists to manufacture new ones.
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| Publication time | Sat, 08 Aug 2026 11:00:00 +0000 |
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Tech Industry Artificial Intelligence AI creates 16 new viruses that never existed in nature after learning DNA’s pattern from 9 trillion nucleotides — experts warn such applications are way ahead of necessary guardrails News By Etiido Uko Published 8 August 2026 Researchers say the phages can overcome bacterial resistance When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission. Here’s how it works. (Image credit: Shutterstock) Copy link Facebook X Whatsapp Reddit Pinterest Flipboard Email Share this article 0 Join the conversation Follow us Add us as a preferred source on Google Newsletter Subscribe to our newsletter An AI model has just created new viruses that never existed in nature.
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