Anthropic says Claude discovered a new enzyme system, but CRISPR researchers call it routine genome mining
Anthropic says Claude found a new enzyme system, but CRISPR experts call it routine genome mining.
Anthropic says Claude identified a previously unknown enzyme system, dubbed ART, while agents searched DNA databases. About 950 AI agents spent 21 hours reviewing more than 200,000 reverse transcriptases and found repeating DNA sequences beside an unusual enzyme, mostly in bacteriophages. Humans set the research question and ran the lab experiments; the system's function remains unknown. Lucas Harrington, a CRISPR researcher and Mammoth Biosciences co-founder, said similar genome mining has existed for decades and Anthropic has not shown what the system does.
- About 950 agents searched over 200,000 reverse transcriptases in 21 hours.
- The ART system appears mainly in bacteriophages and its function is unknown.
- Anthropic calls it an early result from its 2026 Bay Area biology lab.
- CRISPR researcher Lucas Harrington says the mining method is decades old.
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Anthropic's AI model Claude found a previously unknown enzyme system in DNA databases, doing most of the analysis on its own. Humans set the research question and ran the lab experiments. The system resembles the gene-editing tool CRISPR.
Anthropic calls it one of the first discoveries from its Bay Area biology lab, which opened in spring 2026. About 950 AI agents spent 21 hours combing through more than 200,000 reverse transcriptases, enzymes that convert RNA into DNA. Next to one unusual enzyme, they found repeating DNA sequences. The system, dubbed "ART," shows up mostly in bacteriophages, viruses that infect bacteria. Its function is still unknown.
Lucas Harrington is less impressed. He earned his PhD under Nobel laureate Jennifer Doudna, who co-discovered CRISPR-Cas9, and co-founded Mammoth Biosciences with her. Mammoth uses genome mining to hunt for CRISPR systems itself. On X, Harrington wrote that the method has been around for decades and that similar systems have been known since 2008. The hard part is figuring out what a system actually does, and Anthropic hasn't shown that. Presenting early results as a major discovery isn't helpful, he said.
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