AI helps find hidden toolkit for editing DNA in viruses

Anthropic said September 23, 2026 its Bay Area lab found a previously unknown toolkit made of enzymes hidden in the DNA of viruses that infect bacteria. Like CRISPR, the gene-editing method, it can cut, copy and paste DNA. Chief executive Dario Amodei said it was found mostly, though not entirely, by Claude, with human scientists confirming it in lab tests.