Claude discovers a previously unknown enzyme system hidden in bacteriophage DNA

minchoi · x · 2026-09-24

Anthropic announced that Claude discovered a previously unknown enzyme system hidden in bacteriophage DNA. Next to the enzyme's gene sits a long array of repeating DNA, structurally resembling CRISPR. Its function is unknown, but the handful of known systems sharing these features can all cut, copy, and paste DNA — historically a significant capability.

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