Anthropic says Claude AI helped discover novel enzyme system

Sept 23 (Reuters) – Anthropic on Wednesday said its Claude model helped discover a novel enzyme system with properties reminiscent of mechanisms ‌in gene-editing technology CRISPR, marking the first result from the AI startup’s biology research efforts.

The finding comes days after Reuters reported Anthropic had quietly established a wet ⁠lab in the San Francisco Bay Area, as the company expands its ambitions in life sciences and drug-related research beyond purely computer-based work.

Anthropic said Claude analyzed large DNA databases and found an unusual system built around a reverse transcriptase (RT), an enzyme that copies ‌RNA ⁠into DNA.
Anthropic has named the system array-associated reverse transcriptases, or ART.
ART contains repeating DNA sequences that resemble patterns seen in CRISPR, Anthropic said.
The ⁠company noted that while the underlying RT had been identified in previous studies, Claude appeared to ⁠be the first to recognize key features of the broader system, including an ⁠array of non-coding DNA sequences and an additional protein of unknown function.