AI used to create viruses not found in nature for first time

US researchers have announced the creation of new viruses using artificial intelligence, a scientific first that raises hopes for advances in medical treatments while also stoking anxiety about the dangers of the frontier technology.In findings published in the journal Science, researchers at Stanford University and the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard said they used a naturally occurring phage – a type of virus that infects bacteria – as a template to generate thousands of genomes with AI.Recommended Stories list of 4 itemslist 1 of 4‘No red line’: South Lebanon residents outraged as Israel resumes strikeslist 2 of 4Travel restrictions – from Israel and Europe – trap students in Gazalist 3 of 4After the floods, hunger: Mozambique’s second disasterlist 4 of 4Do you know who owns the media you watch?end of listThe researchers chemically synthesised nearly 300 of the genomes and tested them in laboratory conditions, resulting in 16 “viable” viruses, according to the findings published on Thursday.In tests, a mixture of the synthetic viruses proved more effective at killing E coli bacteria than the naturally occurring viruses, according to the findings.“Our approach expands what syn...