Bacteriophages kill bacteria, and scientists hope engineered phages could work as new antibiotics.
Researchers applied a generative AI model, called Evo 2, to this challenge. Given a starting place – in this case bacteriophage ΦX174 – Evo 2 suggested new DNA sequences.
Based on genomes written by Evo 2, the researchers synthesized and tested nearly 300 phages for effectiveness against E. coli. They ended up with 16 that proved exceptional.
Given its potential, the researchers have made Evo 2 openly and freely available. Acknowledging safety concerns, they point to the importance of having tools like Evo 2 to address existing natural pathogens and the ability to build safety checks into AI tools – something that doesn’t happen when pathogens evolve naturally.