949 Claude Agents Find CRISPR-Like Enzyme System in 21 Hours
rohanpaul_ai · x · 2026-09-24
Anthropic's new wet lab scored its first win: 949 Claude agents autonomously discovered a previously unknown enzyme system, dubbed ART, hidden in bacteriophage DNA in 21.5 hours. The campaign searched 1.94B protein clusters, recovered 198,290 RT clusters, and used 215.6M tokens.
Key points:
- Claude spotted an unusual pattern: a short DNA repeat array sitting next to the enzyme's gene, structurally reminiscent of CRISPR.
- The system also produces multiple small RNA molecules, suggesting the repeats are functional rather than junk.
- Only a handful of known systems share these features, and all can cut, copy, and paste DNA — the class of programmable systems that gave rise to CRISPR-based genetic medicines.
- Anthropic cautions its actual function and any therapeutic potential remain unknown.
More from AGI Musings
- Forecasters keep underestimating AI revenue growth while overestimating self-driving diffusion — davidmanheim · 2026-09-24
- Experts forecast AI virology parity for 2030-2034; it arrived in April 2025 — davidmanheim · 2026-09-24
- Beff Jezos mocks AI doomers: 'no real job, full-time doommongering' — mjdramstead · 2026-09-24
- Ex-OpenAI researcher joins debate claiming AI labs steal your prompts — suchenzang · 2026-09-24
- AI boom's 'teaser period': trillions in compute commitments come due in 2027-2028, article warns — sebpaquet · 2026-09-24
- AI beats forecasts: top AI ARR hits $100B vs $16-25B predicted, training runs cost $388M — koltregaskes · 2026-09-24