Bengaluru: Artificial intelligence is moving beyond analysing biological information and beginning to influence how scientists design biological systems. A recent Stanford University and Arc Institute experiment has highlighted both the possibilities and risks of this emerging technology.
AI helped design working viruses
Researchers used AI to generate complete genomes of bacteriophages, viruses that infect bacteria. Of 285 AI-generated designs that were synthesised and tested, 16 produced functioning phages.
Some of these were able to overcome bacterial resistance that had defeated the original virus. The findings demonstrate that AI can contribute to biological design rather than simply analysing existing data.
However, describing these as “AI-created viruses” can be misleading. Humans have been synthesising viral genomes and modifying viruses for decades. The significant development is that AI is increasingly entering the design stage.
New possibilities for medicine
The ability to design bacteriophages could have important medical applications, particularly in the fight against antibiotic-resistant bacterial infections. Scientists could potentially use computational tools to explore biological designs much faster than traditional trial-and-error approaches.
Phage therapy is already being studied as a possible tool against difficult bacterial infections. (en.wikipedia.org)
Why stronger safeguards matter
The same capability that accelerates beneficial research could create biosecurity challenges if powerful biological design systems are misused.
The experiment does not demonstrate that AI can independently manufacture dangerous human viruses. Physical laboratory work, scientific expertise and biological infrastructure were still required.
Nevertheless, as AI becomes more capable of proposing biological designs, researchers, institutions and governments will need appropriate safeguards, screening and responsible oversight.
The challenge is to ensure that AI accelerates medical progress without allowing biological risks to advance faster than society’s ability to control them.