Technology and Science · updated 1h ago · 2 min read
Anthropic’s Claude Finds Unknown ART Enzymatic System In Bacteriophage DNA After 21 Hours
Claude identified a previously unknown enzymatic system in bacteriophage DNA within 21 hours. It resembles CRISPR and its function is not yet known.
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ART found in 21 hours
Anthropic said its Claude model and nearly 1,000 parallel agents analyzed DNA for 21 hours and found an unknown enzymatic system in bacteriophages, naming it ART for “array-associated reverse transcriptases.” Anthropic said the agents scanned a huge database of genetic sequences, gathered more than 200,000 reverse transcriptases, identified about 3,500 candidate systems, and narrowed the selection to the 20 cases they considered most promising for in-depth analysis. Anthropic said the discovery arose after an unusual pattern placed a long repetitive DNA sequence next to a reverse transcriptase gene, alongside an accessory protein whose function is unknown.
Anthropic said the system resembles CRISPR in some aspects because it includes repetitive DNA patterns, but it cautioned that it does not yet know ART’s function or whether it could become a programmable tool. Feng Zhang, a CRISPR pioneer at MIT and the Broad Institute, called the identification of RNA-repeat arrays associated with reverse transcriptases “genuinely intriguing” and said it “merits further investigation.”
Safety, benchwork, and agents
Anthropic said its Bay Area wet biology lab operated with biosecurity levels BSL-1 and BSL-2 and that it does not handle pathogens capable of infecting humans. Anthropic said human scientists performed all physical experimental work, while Claude’s agents handled the computational search and independently selected candidates for analysis. Dario Amodei told the United Nations Security Council via video conference that the finding is “preliminary,” and he said it “may constitute a new gene editing mechanism that could have applications in gene therapy.”
Anthropic said it does not yet know whether the enzyme is active, and it said the team has not demonstrated at this stage that the enzyme is active. The Next Web said the company’s preprint reported that ART arrays hold 3 to 21 copies of a short repeat and that the team had not yet shown that the enzyme works on the RNAs.
What’s next for Anthropic
Anthropic said the discovery was presented alongside the launch of its new biology research group and laboratory in the San Francisco Bay Area. Anthropic said its strategy uses Claude agents to search large collections of genetic sequences, identify proteins whose function has not yet been characterized, formulate hypotheses, and select candidates that can later be evaluated experimentally by scientists. Anthropic said it named the system ART and described it as based on a reverse transcriptase capable of copying RNA into DNA, with a neighboring partner gene and an array of evenly spaced DNA repeats.
Anthropic said it believes ART deserves continued investigation but cautioned that much more work will be needed to discover what it actually does and whether it could have similar utility to CRISPR. Anthropic said it does not rule out Claude eventually operating lab equipment itself, with appropriate safeguards, but it said it was not doing that today.