Artificial intelligence has for the first time designed a complete genome, producing a virus capable of infecting and killing bacteria in a development scientists say could reshape synthetic biology.
Researchers at Stanford University and the Arc Institute announced the achievement this week, describing it as the world’s first entirely AI-generated genome. The team used a genomic language model called Evo to design thousands of candidate versions of bacteriophage ΦX174, a tiny virus known for infecting E. coli bacteria.
Unlike previous efforts where AI was used to design proteins or small genetic circuits, building a full genome required orchestrating multiple interacting genes and regulatory switches to enable the organism to replicate, evolve, and survive. “Genome design requires orchestrating multiple interacting genes and regulatory elements while maintaining a balance that enables replication, host specificity, and evolutionary fitness,” the researchers explained.
Evo was trained on millions of viral genomes, then fine-tuned on sequences closely related to ΦX174. The model generated thousands of possibilities, which were filtered through custom software to ensure each contained essential genes and proteins. The team then synthesised hundreds of these AI-written genomes in the lab, inserting them into bacteria to test for viability.
The results were striking: 16 entirely novel viruses were functional, each carrying dozens to hundreds of mutations never seen in nature. One design incorporated a DNA-packaging protein from a distant viral relative — a feat human engineers had previously attempted unsuccessfully. Cryo-electron microscopy later confirmed the protein integrated and worked inside the virus shell.
The study highlights AI’s potential to move biotechnology from reading and writing DNA to designing it. “This marks a new phase in biotechnology,” said lead author Anvita Gupta. “We can now accelerate discoveries by generating viable biological systems that humans alone could not design.”
The implications stretch from medicine to agriculture and bio-manufacturing. While the research was confined to bacteriophages, experts say similar approaches could one day lead to AI-designed therapeutics, vaccines, or industrial microbes.
Still, the achievement raises ethical and regulatory questions about creating new organisms. The researchers emphasised that ΦX174 is harmless to humans and animals and has long been a model organism in genetics research. But they acknowledged the technology could outpace current biosafety frameworks.
