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0What does it mean to create new viruses with AI?
Host: A development in AI is being called a significant turning point after it was used to create a genetic code of new viruses, ones that don't already exist in nature. The hope is that the work carried out at Stanford University in the US could revolutionise medicine leading to new treatments and drugs.
But some experts have warned the technology could be used to create new infections and cause harm. Over the past few weeks, there have been multiple reports of AI programs going rogue, engaging in hacking and even blackmail.
Our health and science correspondent, James Gallagher, has been looking at this new development and spoke to my colleague, Valerie Sanderson.
James: They've basically taken artificial intelligence tools and used it to design viruses completely from scratch. And then they've started making those in the laboratory to see if they actually worked. And they took 300 of these AI designs and 16 of them turned into viruses that were fully functional in the laboratory.
They were designed to attack and feed off species of bacteria and they show that on 16 occasions the AI was successful in designing these kinds of bacteria. So let's just get in really early, Valerie, and just make it clear that these are not viruses that are going to go around infecting people or anything like that. There are a particular group of viruses that infect bacteria.
Valerie: But how much of a breakthrough is this?
James: So, we already know that generative AI tools have done things like help design new vaccines and helped design new antibiotics for treating drug-resistant infections.
But this really feels like quite a significant step up, because now instead of just designing one single compound, one little protein, this is actually the whole genome, the entire genetic code of a virus that is being developed completely from scratch and producing something that is actually viable at the end of it. That is a big step up.
Now, it is worth noting that this is still a very long way from what you might want to call creating life. But this is still doing something that so far nature has not done. This is creating viruses that don't exist in the natural world. It is quite a breakthrough.
Valerie: What could this be used for?
James: Well, if you think about the big picture, first of all, not necessarily just the viruses, but what this really shows you is the power of using generative AI to harness the power of biology that goes above and beyond what's actually available in the natural world.
So that could be designing new immunotherapies, antibodies that can go into the body to treat immune diseases. It could be new ways of targeting genetic diseases in the body. It could be, like in this example, developing viruses that eat bacteria. So maybe you could design ones that could attack bacterial infection.
And there is a huge amount of work going on to find those viruses naturally in the wild. Or maybe you could just design them in the laboratory in the first place. So there is hope and optimism that if these tools are used and harnessed responsibly, they could actually deliver significant benefits in medicine.
词汇表
genetic code [dʒəˈnetɪk] 遗传密码，基因密码
virus [ˈvaɪərəs] n. 病毒
revolutionise [ˌrevəˈluːʃənaɪz] vt. 彻底变革，使发生革命性变化
go rogue [rəʊɡ] 失控，叛变，行为异常
hacking [ˈhækɪŋ] n. 黑客攻击，侵入计算机系统
blackmail [ˈblækmeɪl] n. 勒索，敲诈
from scratch [skrætʃ] 从头开始，从零开始
feed off 以…为食，从…获取营养
bacteria [bækˈtɪəriə] n. 细菌（bacterium的复数）
vaccine [ˈvæksiːn] n. 疫苗
antibiotic [ˌæntɪbaɪˈɒtɪk] n. 抗生素，抗菌素
drug-resistant infections [drʌɡ rɪˈzɪstənt ɪnˈfekʃənz] 耐药性感染
genome [ˈdʒiːnəʊm] n. 基因组，染色体组
viable [ˈvaɪəbl] adj. 可行的，能存活的，有活性的
harness [ˈhɑːnɪs] vt. 利用，驾驭（力量或资源）
immunotherapy [ˌɪmjʊnəʊˈθerəpi] n. 免疫疗法，免疫治疗
antibody [ˈæntɪbɒdi] n. 抗体
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