AI-designed viruses offer new medicines but raise safety concerns

Scientists have created the first viruses designed entirely by artificial intelligence, a breakthrough offering new medical treatments while raising safety concerns. The AI-designed bacteriophages successfully killed antibiotic-resistant E coli in lab tests. The viruses, which only infect bacteria, were developed using genome language models similar to AI chatbots. Stanford researcher Dr Brian Hie designed functioning genomes that were then built in the lab and tested against resistant bacteria, potentially transforming phage therapy. Researchers acknowledged the work raises biosafety and biosecurity concerns, urging consultation with safety experts. Johns Hopkins specialists warned that governance for safely steering this generative AI capability does not yet exist.