Genome-Trained AI Models Used to Design New Viruses

While most AI research in biology has focused on designing proteins, large genome models trained on DNA sequences have now been used to generate viruses that infect bacteria. The resulting viruses are closely related to existing viruses but carry distinctive features that would be difficult to produce through evolution.

Researchers at Stanford University note that this capability could eventually be extended to design viruses that target vertebrates, and they argue for early preparation. The work highlights how generative AI trained on genomes can move beyond proteins to create functional biological agents.