![\"A](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/SEI_282227629-f5ee.jpg\")
\n\t\tEvo-\u03a62147 defeated the E. Coli in a petri dish (Credits: Getty Images)<\/p>\n
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\n\t\tEvo-\u03a62147 defeated the E. Coli in a petri dish (Credits: Getty Images)<\/p>\n
Scientists have made the first step towards creating new species in the lab.<\/p>\n
Researchers have used artificial intelligence to create a new virus to attack a colony of the deadly E.coli bacteria.<\/p>\n
The team at Stanford University, California<\/a> used AI to draw up the entire genome for the virus, codenamed Evo-\u03a62147.<\/p>\n The breakthrough in synthetic biology marks the moment when Darwinian evolution could be upended, and new species could be brought to life from a petri dish.<\/p>\n Adrian Woolfson, a British molecular biologist and tech entrepreneur, told the Sunday Times: \u2018This is a massive, consequential moment.<\/p>\n \u2018For the last four billion years evolution has been blind \u2014 there has been no foresight, there has been no intentionality.<\/p>\n \u2018Now, instead of discovering species that have evolved in this ad hoc manner, suddenly we can make life \u2014 yes in a rudimentary way, but the process has begun.<\/p>\n \t\t \u2018This is not speculation. It\u2019s not futuristic, it is happening.\u2019<\/p>\n Evo-\u03a62147 was one of 285 new viruses created by the AI program Evo2.<\/p>\n They were all put in petri dishes, with 16 managing to attack the the\u00a0E.coli.<\/p>\n A mixture of all 16 strains was even able to defeat the most resistant forms of the deadly bacteria.<\/p>\n Evo-\u03a62147 is not quite \u2018life\u2019 because it cannot reproduce outside of a host and contains 11 genes compared to 20,000 in a human.<\/p>\n But it represents a proof of concept that genomes can be designed in their entirety.<\/p>\n A genome is the complete set of genetic instructions (DNA) found in an organism, containing all the information required for it to develop, function, and reproduce.<\/p>\n Woolfson, 60, and his team at Genyro, are pioneering work<\/a> in this field.<\/p>\n Members of the team were behind a new DNA construction tool unveiled in the journal Nature on Wednesday.<\/p>\n Scientists from the California Institute of Technology said the tool, called Sidewinder, can build long genetic sequences up to 100,000 times more accurately than anything developed before.<\/p>\n Discussing the breakthrough, Kaihang Wang, 43, said: \u2018If you can control the source code of life, you can create anything and everything.<\/p>\n \t\t \u2018The only thing limiting it is our imagination.\u2019<\/p>\n These two technologies together could lead the way for a revolution in medicines, materials, and evolution itself.<\/p>\n Woolfson believes it could be used to create new species and bring back extinct creatures.<\/p>\n Had the technology been around during the Covid<\/a> pandemic, researchers believe it would have allowed them to make the first mRNA vaccine in just 62 hours, rather than the 42 days it took in 2020.<\/p>\n These new scientific innovations are groundbreaking but come with security concerns that require \u2018responsibility\u2019, Woolfson says.<\/p>\n For example, the Evo2 model was not trained using viruses that are pathogenic to humans.<\/p>\n Woolfson added: \u2018Humankind needs to decide who is going to define the guard rails. <\/p>\n \u2018Who is going to decide what gets written? Who\u2019s going to decide on the governance? Society needs to know this is happening, so people can have these conversations.\u2019<\/p>\n Get in touch with our news team by emailing us at webnews@metro.co.uk<\/a>.<\/p>\n For more stories like this, check our news page<\/a>.<\/p>\n Arrow Arrow Arrow![\"Scientists](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/SEI_282226357-ce38.jpg\")
\n\t\tThe new virus\u2019 genome was created using AI (Picture: Arc Institute)<\/p>\n![\"photo](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/SEI_282227635-924d.jpg\")
\n\t\tThe new technology could be the first step to creating new species in a lab
(PIcture: Getty Images)<\/p>\n
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