Claude uncovers unknown enzyme system in phage DNA, with CRISPR-like repeats
rohanpaul_ai · x · 2026-09-24
Anthropic revealed that Claude helped discover a previously unknown enzyme system hidden in bacteriophage DNA. Next to the enzyme's gene sits a long array of repeating DNA, a structure resembling CRISPR.
Its function is not yet understood, but only a handful of known systems share these features — all of which can cut, copy, and paste DNA. Historically, such discoveries have presaged new gene-editing tools.
A reply adds a striking detail: simply having the agent open more of the relevant files shifted recognition accuracy by tens of percentage points — showing how much agent retrieval behavior matters in AI4Science workflows.
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