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In 2025 an AI model designed complete genomes for bacteriophages, viruses that kill bacteria, and 16 of the designs worked as real viruses in the lab. The team described them as the first viable phage genomes written by AI.

Arc Institute and Stanford University, 2025

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The team, led by Brian Hie and Samuel King, used Evo, an AI model trained on millions of DNA sequences from bacteria and phages, much as chatbots learn from text. They trained it further on about 14,500 genomes from one family of small phages and asked it to write new versions of phiX174, a well-studied phage whose genome is only about 5,400 DNA letters long. Of 302 designs they built, 16 infected and killed E. coli bacteria, and some multiplied faster than the natural phage. A mixture of the AI-designed phages also overcame bacteria that had become resistant to phiX174. The results were first shared as a preprint, a paper not yet reviewed by other scientists. Phage therapy is one hoped-for answer to antibiotic-resistant infections.

Türkçe oku
2025'te bir yapay zekâ modeli, bakterileri öldüren virüsler olan bakteriyofajlar için eksiksiz genomlar tasarladı; bu tasarımlardan 16'sı laboratuvarda gerçek virüs gibi çalıştı. Ekip bunları, yapay zekânın yazdığı ilk çalışan faj genomları olarak tanımladı.
Arc Institute ve Stanford Üniversitesi, 2025

Brian Hie ve Samuel King'in yönettiği ekip, sohbet robotlarının metinden öğrenmesine benzer biçimde, bakteri ve fajlara ait milyonlarca DNA dizisiyle eğitilmiş Evo adlı bir yapay zekâ modelini kullandı. Modeli, küçük fajlardan oluşan bir ailenin yaklaşık 14.500 genomuyla ayrıca eğittiler ve ondan, genomu yalnızca 5.400 kadar DNA harfinden oluşan, iyi tanınan phiX174 fajının yeni sürümlerini yazmasını istediler. Laboratuvarda üretilen 302 tasarımdan 16'sı E. coli bakterilerini enfekte edip öldürdü; bazıları doğal faja göre daha hızlı çoğaldı. Yapay zekânın tasarladığı fajların bir karışımı, phiX174'e direnç kazanmış bakterilerin de üstesinden geldi. Sonuçlar önce, henüz başka bilim insanlarınca denetlenmemiş bir ön baskı makalesiyle paylaşıldı. Faj tedavisi, antibiyotiğe dirençli enfeksiyonlara karşı umut bağlanan yollardan biri.

Sources and further reading

Background reading: Bacteriophage
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