Scientists at Stanford University and the Arc Institute have produced the first complete, working viral genome designed by generative artificial intelligence. As published in their paper in the journal Science on August 6, they used generative AI to create viral genomes not found in nature, brought the designs to the laboratory, and saw some of them grow inside bacteria.

• Researchers view it as both an amazing scientific breakthrough and a potential stepping-stone to doom.

This is the first time that AI-generated complete functional genomes have been successfully tested and published. The research team hopes this capability will lead to medical breakthroughs, including fighting bacterial infections when antibiotics fail.

What they did: The scientists trained AI models on vast amounts of genomic data and used them to design genomes for bacteriophages, viruses that infect and replicate inside bacteria.

• They chemically manufactured hundreds of thousands of AI-designed dna sequences and introduced them into E. coli, where 16 of the genetic designs produced functional viruses capable of infecting and killing the bacteria.
• Cocktails of AI-generated bacteriophage killed E. coli strains that were resistant to natural bacteriophages.

Beyond the potential benefits, the researchers wrote, this work raised “important biosafety, biocontainment and biosecurity considerations.” In other words, what we just created could be used to develop new biological weapons.

Governments have focused on curtailing “gain of function” research that manipulates natural pathogens, which is what led to the covid-19 pandemic. But AI can now help create viruses from scratch.

• Prof. Tom Inglesby and Dr. Moritz Hanke at the Center for Health Security at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore wrote: “The ability to compose viral genomes using generative AI now exists; the governance to safely steer it does not.”

What don’t we know about it? The researchers strictly excluded genetic data from viruses capable of causing human disease. But inevitably, other researchers, companies, terrorists and governments will not.

“A single pathogenic experiment could spark a pandemic, a tiny molecular event with global ramifications.”
—Mustafa Suleyman, tech entrepreneur

Biological warfare prophesied: Mankind has never created a weapon it did not use. The Bible prophesies that soon, human beings will be experiencing the horrific effects of new weapons. Concerning the pale horse of Revelation 6, The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse explains:

Pale is translated from the Greek chloros, which … means the sickly pale green color of sickness and disease. … The man on the pale horse symbolizes climactic, globe-encircling plagues and pandemics occurring and soon to occur in this modern age!

To understand how the latest biological experiments connect to the ancient prophecies of the Holy Bible, read The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse online now and request your free print copy.