Google’s SynthID Bio can watermark AI-designed protein binders without breaking them
DeepMind's SynthID Bio watermarks AI-designed proteins for screening without hurting binder function.
Google DeepMind introduced SynthID Bio, a watermark for AI-designed proteins that places a signature in the amino-acid sequence and predicted 3D coordinates and can be checked after synthesis. Wet-lab tests of binders for VEGF-A, the SARS-CoV-2 spike receptor-binding domain, and PD-L1 found watermarked designs matched unwatermarked ones on hit rate, affinity, and sequence diversity. DeepMind positions the mark as a signal for DNA-synthesis screening and database submissions, while noting resistance to deliberate tampering is still unsolved. Early tests watermarking an Evo 2-designed bacteriophage genome found the phages remained functional, and the paper, code, in-vitro data, and weights are being released.