Huor
22191
486
13
https://futurism.com/health-medicine/ai-designed-virus-printed
Sep 23, 2025 2:41 AM
Huor
22191
486
13
https://futurism.com/health-medicine/ai-designed-virus-printed
markorazmakbabic8
Its a statistical model that shows what the most likely genome will kill a specific bacteria.
It does not think, it does not reason, it does not feel, inuit, have consciousness, nor does it understand language, or understand anything in general.
Its a mathematical formula unimaginably less complex than what can constitute the most basic of mental functions.
We made AIs that create peptides that are antimicrobial too. It does statistics. Nothing more. A thinking brain is so much more.
Hexidimentional
Settle down there umbrella corporation, shut off the red queen
benjibiggum
Could you not?
EstoyPoopi
Could you not be ignorant?
EnIightenment
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ethnic_bioweapon
Hashbrown123
FOX DIE!
FreePalestineAndTheWorldFromIsrael
Only if youre talking about the "News" channel
Evenmoreuselessname
phalanxausage
Could you not?
InnerBushman
Now this is something that AI should do and not art.
tavisno
This just sounds like a resident evil scientist notes thing
TheVampireDante
tavisno
Thats the meme i was thinking of, thank you lol
Capum15
I was about to start yelling Torment Nexus, but this is actually pretty cool.
Fyreworx
Start the clock.
Jebriel
And we are not focusing on cancer because . . .
DrewThe3DPrinterGuy
This is the way the world ends
This is the way the world ends
This is the way the world ends
Not with a bang but a whimper.
LicensedAdHominem
So optimistic of you to assume it will end.
MothMonsterMan
Wanna meet up in Boulder?
alcamar
I'm game, not looking to go further west though, fuck that
Goldensands
Nathanyel
I'm still angry MS turned Halo from a story-focused game into a bro shooter. (yes, I know it's from a T.S. Eliot poem, but these lines were used in promo material before Bungie was bought, so they'll be forever linked in my head to the Halo that never was)
RandomQuack
Protomolecule
cryborg
neuronicle
If you happen to be educated in science and research in general and medicine in particular, this is actually pretty good news and it sparks quite a bit of valid biomedical hope. If you happen to be educated mainly by Hollywood movies, TV and game culture, this naturally will spark quite invalid irrational fears.
Huor
Hollywood movies? How about actual history?
SacrificialClam
Regular scientists do this all the time. Just not with AI
knubberrub
" The work, published in a new study 𝚊̲𝚠̲𝚊̲𝚒̲𝚝̲𝚒̲𝚗̲𝚐̲ 𝚙̲𝚎̲𝚎̲𝚛̲-̲𝚛̲𝚎̲𝚟̲𝚒̲𝚎̲𝚠̲, " - emphasis mine.
ThatNoPicklePeeThatNoPumpARum
Nothing is wrong with this at all. You people just see AI and think its a chatbot.
justfiguredoutimc4azyanddumbb
What the fuck are we thin.... oh. We don't do that anymore.
awkungen42
Electrolytes!
Imalwaysready
Apparently not as this s good thing.
FuzzyX
Think of it like this way. What is the very worst anti-human creation this technology can make then how many countries are currently working on that before rival nations do?
markorazmakbabic8
I dont know if this is a joke, but as someone who helped develop multiple similar AI models this is not HAL3000.
Its a complex statistical formula that correlates DNA patterns to functional descriptors. It isnt conscious, it doesnt intuit, it doesnt think, want, feel, behave, understand what its doing or have any sort of self preservation instinct.
The same way a hydroelectric generator isnt smart because it creates electricity, or a lamp smart because it creates light.
justfiguredoutimc4azyanddumbb
Yeah everyone gets that. Its just easier for someone to do something really stupid.
markorazmakbabic8
You underestimate how difficult it is. Sure, its simpler. But still quite difficult
CardeasIV
Oh i am! Constantly thinking about what the fuck is going to happen with the world! War, famine, nukes, viruses, facist regimes...BUT! I found out easy trick to take my mind off those things! Simple be worried you wont be able to pay rent after solid risk of losing job (and the only thing i can do are jobs that dont pay very well in the first place) and ending up on street with family...so no worries! Leave the worrying to heavily depressed wife...uhm...sorry for the vent lol...any milionaire DM
SarcasticComment
at the very least we'll piss off the Christians before we die
justfiguredoutimc4azyanddumbb
You mean after my dogs die
SarcasticComment
I mean. they got like 15 years tops https://media2.giphy.com/media/v1.Y2lkPWE1NzM3M2U1NXF1cmRqdW4xazZyeDhnMzAxYTAxeDk3aDkwcWwzZzZvMnQ1eGM2aiZlcD12MV9naWZzX3NlYXJjaCZjdD1n/SAHGcjT1jNvDB6oxI8/200w.webp
Targe0
They were thinking this could be a cure for antibiotic resistant bacteria that kill hundreds of people every year.
This is a massive leap forward for the antibiotic resistance problem.
michiyl
Enjoy their Torment Nexus!
CallMeCourierSix
It targets E. coli, a bacteria that we actually need in our gut. NO POSSIBLE PROBLEMS HERE!
justfiguredoutimc4azyanddumbb
I'll pack my drugs.
Targe0
To people seeing this as a doomsday situation, it's not.
As the viruses they are making are Bacteriophages, meaning bacteria viruses.
Meaning in capable of infecting and harming anything that is not bacteria.
And this is a great step forward in the fight against antibiotic resistant bacteria. This research is actually to prevent a doomsday problem that has been growing for decades now of super bacteria that antibiotics can not kill. That could become a major health crisis if they spread.
ispendtomuchtimehere
FUCK YES!
BeornBlackclaw
Now do the T-Virus
Navrodel
This is a good time to remind people that this is being created by an actual, purpose built neural net - not ChatGPT hallucinating some dna sequences. Actual, intelligent, narrowly scoped AI.
Now, is virus printing itself a scary prospect? Sure, but they've been doing that for a couple decades without creating anything too worrisome.
Targe0
Yeah, it's not hard to mix some RNA and DNA and create an artificial virus.
Hell CRISPER is more scary than this research.
Because we have such a refined grasp on how to use that. This is really only speeding up the process of working out the genetic code for how to build it.
bad1080
but what about second covid?
Turboslacker
Trust the science
Monkeynutsjoe
I just don't trust the people paying for the science.
ongabonga
Hallucinations aren't science.
Huor
But not the scientists. They're human. They're fallible.
Snipsuper
This is awesome! I wonder if using my gtx 1080 back in the day to protein folding help this process in anyway.
TruckerKunIsekaiGod
Okay, so... I went through several emotions about this.
Oh, good.
Just what we needed.
That's a dot on my bingo card.
Then I figured this is being done to push the boundaries of science.
This is to get ahead of virus evolution and prepare vaccines so we aren't caught with our pants down.
Then I remembered all negative press every time an article is released pertaining to scientific discovery.
So to this, I say okay.
Huor
Negative press based on generations of horrors, which science cheerleaders tend to dismiss.
BernieDid911
This, bacteriophages likely don’t pose much risk to humans, and we’re already exploring custom viral pathogens that are cancer cell specific (oncolytic). This study is actually very cool.
michiyl
It's all about how and for what purpose something is used. A hammer is great when you apply it for nails, but it's not good to use it on humans.
shehdbeuebw738373
I think people hear AI and assume a scientist went "chatGPT, design me a virus!" And nothing is further from the truth. LLMs are used in very specific situations then thoroughly checked to reject garbage.
Ekaris9
This is a good thing, believe it or not. Splitting the atom was terrifying, but we will NEED that tech to survive. This new tech is a similar thing. It's ok to be afraid, but be afraid of the fools who want to misuse this tech, not the tech itself. "He who would shun fire out of fear shall indeed never be burnt. Nor shall he bask in warmth or light."
ThisIsMyUsernameThereAreManyLikeIt
No one here is fearing the tech itself. The tech is amazing. Any scientific progress is amazing. What we are fearing is *obviously* what it might become in the hands of the wrong people.
Huor
That's an issue that a lot of people stubbornly refuse to acknowledge.
Zyrixion
Yeah see we *are* afraid of the fools who will misuse it, that is WHY we are afraid of the technology, because broadly humanity is pretty obviously incapable of handling the technology we HAVE, much less any more, without destroying ourselves. No amount of technology is going to save us, we are literally trying to run fusion reactors in societies where people still believe in the imaginary superfriends and that they'll solve all of humanity's earthly woes.
lackadaisycull
Ok, this is the answer to “how” for “If Anyone Builds It, Everyone Dies”
BipedalHumanoidWithSlightlyDifferentNoseRidge
Bacteriophages can't effect us like that. There are nearly always unexpected side effects, but that is why years of testing is done.
My question would be, If all the viruses are killed, will our genes continue to evolve the same way?
Targe0
No, as this is a Bacteriophage, meaning it can only infect bacteria.
And they are researching this as a way to combat antibiotic resistance bacteria that we currently have little means to combat.
Which results in many deaths each year.
This research is how more people live.
SpaceballsTheComment
To all the doomsayers: Bacteriophages are like the holy grail in the fight against multi-drug resistant bacteria and a whole bunch of infectious diseases, like tuberculosis. If antibiotics are a nuke, phages are a squad of John Wicks, and tb just killed their dog.
Geistbar
Also this is exactly the kind of application that would be tested extensively in the real world before it was used.
There's a lot of problems with AI right now, but as part of the iterative design process of a strongly regulated field is not one of those problems.
CommentBot3000
There's a huge difference between chatbot AI and specialized LLMs used in research. The former is quite bad at what it does, the latter awesome.
vizeroy42
Mostly, the ones used in research aren't LLMs at all. They don't care about language generation. They work on quite different research - like designing viruses, or testing new kinds of antibiotics.
CommentBot3000
True, I should've said neural network to differentiate it more from the general chatbots.
CylensTheDiscourse
Yup. This is pure fearmongering from the article and post title. They developed a method to combat E. Coli., just like a multitude of drugs have been designed to do, except now they have access to far greater resources and information to combat it. But stupid people just see headlines and the letters "AI".
I'm just waiting for people on imgur to go anti-vax because they heard that AI helped create new vaccines, worried that it would inject nanobots into their blood that connect thru 5G.
Lugh314159
Okay. ...now imagine those John Wick Phages, programmed by AI, mistake neurons for cancer cells.
ThisIsMyUsernameThereAreManyLikeIt
It's super cool. My faith in humanity responsibly using the tech to do good is just at an alltime low.
drinkthederpentine
But idiots on imgur who think all AI is chagpt told me Ai bad
Huor
Cool, now what happens if this technology is used by actual human beings who are incompetent, greedy and profoundly fallible? Weird how that's never part of the conversation.
Feralkyn
You want to completely stop medical progress because of how the bastards will use it?
By that standard we shouldn't use any chemicals or medicines whatsoever because they'll poison us with them. That's such a stupid take.
CptRobotNinja
When ever I read an article like this that makes a scientific breakthrough sound alarming, I'm beginning to develope the suspicion that the journalist is communicating what the scientists are doing poorly, and generally after I look into it a bit more, I'm often right.
Renza0
on one hand, I am 100% behind what youre saying on this, the way this team used this tech and its results are great... what team brainworm is going to do with it if/when they get their hands on the tech, or what laws theyre going to place around it, I'm less than optimistic about.
sgnight13
My only concern is that every time someone does something cool using a technology co-opted by tech bros, we inevitably see it used for warfare within 5 years.
Kemi337
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YI3tsmFsrOg
cousteau
Yeah I guess the chances of a virus mutating and jumping from bacteria to humans aren't precisely as high as jumping from other animals to humans. But I've seen enough movies to be scared of everything...
Dissipo
But the infectious diseases are like T-1000
SpaceballsTheComment
Dead. Dog.
Dissipo
phalanks
People acting like the capability to create bioweapons isn't already out there and incredibly well researched. They see AI and think it's chatgpt and must be evil. The only real question is whether or not AI is better/faster at iterating on designs, and if not how long until it is.
SpaceballsTheComment
Look up Alphafold 3, it solved all possible proteins practically overnight. Even more, it was the first time the Nobel prize for chemistry went to two IT guys.
FaeVikingPrincess
I think the problem is they're comparing this AI to things like chatGPT and expect the bacteria to have some horrible side effect because it's AI designed.
[deleted]
[deleted]
CylensTheDiscourse
You can't even spell hormonal right. I seriously hope you don't have a kid, they deserve a better father. If they're taking drugs, it's probably because of you.
LaronX
Ah yes because of a spelling mistake in the third language I speak. Oh great arbitrar of genes and grammar. Fick dich du Arschloch :)
CylensTheDiscourse
Not just the spelling mistake. Your comment was ignorant, uninformed, and completely dumb. You sound like a hormonal teenage kid on drugs. Maybe learn a thing or two about what you're criticizing before calling yourself out.
Du hättest ein Arschloch ficken sollen. Dann hättest du kein Kind.
SpaceballsTheComment
You may want to broaden your horizon on what AI is. Hint: it's not just ChatGPT and Midjourney.
TheLiteraryMachine
Someone didn't read the article. This AI isn't an LLM and it doesn't have its knowledge base in that at all. It's a private AI trained exclusively on bacteriophages and their genetic make-up. The reason the likes of ChatGPT sucks is because people with room temperature IQs are using it and ChatGPT isn't picky about accepting whatever people put into it.
HalloIamherenow
I wonder if this could be used to specifically target and destroy cancer cells. This would basically be the miracle all in one cancer cure we've been looking for.
akelamishari
Did you not watch I Am Legend with Will Smith?
astrangehop
There are several kinds of cancer cells.
HalloIamherenow
I'm aware, but I mean if we can train viruses to specifically target those different cells it would be very interesting
Maverickaura
The concern isn't with why this research is being done. The concern is the pentagon becoming interested in the technology.
BipedalHumanoidWithSlightlyDifferentNoseRidge
Don't worry, Bacteriophages are not "communists" and don't produce oil....
SamaelQliphoth
*Looks at the Cold War* Yeah, about that
SpaceballsTheComment
Not really a concern. The viruses we already have are waaay more efficient. Unless you want to kill one single person with a tailored phage, that might be possible some day. Then again, we already have "russian tea".
Maverickaura
Could you imagine just, intentionally infecting an assassin with a deadly virus that is only deadly to the target though? They wouldn't even need to eat or drink, just being in the same room. That's some sci-fi dystopia nonsense there
LicensedAdHominem
More efficient than what? Design viruses could target anyone with more melanin than the nazi amount.
SpaceballsTheComment
Phages don't infect human cells. They don't transmit well. It's much simpler to breed better mosquitos that carry malaria. Racist super-viruses are still sci-fi for the forseeable future. And even then, who says we can't invent a vaccine for that?
LicensedAdHominem
Obviously, the full name is "bacterio"phages. But those are not the only viruses to design. And oh my god, it's NOT simpler to breed better mosquitoes, that's the point. The virus is chemically assembled in a reactor that could fit in your basement.
BatmanAndCradleRobin
yes a medical marvel until some cunt who just got dumped creates a mirrored virus no life on earth has the evolutionary capability to stop.
hollenqual
Lmao. Stop watching movies/comics, your brain is rotten.
BatmanAndCradleRobin
its literally an enormous threat what are you talking about? We have accidentally produced mirrored substances that killed people before, a virus with mirrored proteins would be the most deadly thing to ever exist on this planet. Instead of claiming some else shouldnt watch movies maybe you should read some research papers.
hollenqual
Its not the part about creating something by accident, or because we lack knowledge; its the part with the tiny evil mam that seeks revenge what its beyond stupid.
BatmanAndCradleRobin
we have shit posters assassinating people ironically and you think that is unrealistic?
TheLiteraryMachine
Yeah, this doesn't actually seem that alarming. Pretty intriguing actually. Not that this technology couldn't potentially develop something horrible, but ... *shrug*
xerolf
also holds the key to undo said horrible.
kinarism
Sounds like They are essentially creating drugs that cause cancer in pathogens.....until it escapes.
markorazmakbabic8
Every piece of tech can be used to do something terrible and something great. Dont fear the tech. Fear if your government dedicates a task force to develop viruses that latch on to people with more skin pigment genes.
It takes time, effort, and money to divert this into something nefarious. It wont happen on its own and quietly in secret.
ProphetofEntropy
neat thing about using bacteriophages and antibiotics, bacteria can only evolve resistance to one or the other. iirc its something about them not having enough genes.
LostCaterpillar
Every single bacteria has some degree of resistance to both bacteriophages and antibiotics, but that's a vast oversimplification because all kinds of antibiotics, both in nature and that we use, each are resisted separately as are the many families of phages.
We've already seen this, and in some cases exploited it, just between different antibiotics. Specific mutations can make a bacteria more resistant to one threat at the cost of become more vulnerable to another.
Kemi337
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YI3tsmFsrOg
ProphetofEntropy
or maybe the it was that the mechanisms of resistance were opposed
Junktrunkjunkie
Hey what if we turned this life saving technology into a weapon? -Every imperialistic government ever.
TheLiteraryMachine
The technology is already there to unleash biological warfare. I don't see how this makes things anymore alarming.
Junktrunkjunkie
Accessibility. Nerve gas is scary, but more people die by guns because they are so widely available. Also Nerve gas isn’t generally used to target specific traits. A custom virus can. Won’t take long for someone racist to try to print a virus that’s more deadly to people with a higher melanin count. Remember small pox blankets? Like that but engineered and even more deadly.
Gestalt7
The risk is the relative ease that the new technology brings to the table.
"If I may... Um, I'll tell you the problem with the scientific power that you're using here, it didn't require any discipline to attain it. You read what others had done and you took the next step."
Gestalt7
"You didn't earn the knowledge for yourselves, so you don't take any responsibility for it. You stood on the shoulders of geniuses to accomplish something as fast as you could, and before you even knew what you had, you patented it, and packaged it, and slapped it on a plastic lunchbox"