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Anthropic AI discovery disputed by researcher
Anthropic recently announced that its AI agents, using the Claude model, identified a new enzyme system known as array-associated reverse transcriptases (ARTs) with potential gene-editing applications. The company stated that 950 Claude agents processed 210 million tokens over 21 hours to identify the system, characterizing it as an instance where AI took the first steps of biological discovery independently.
However, Mario Rodríguez Mestre, a computational biologist at the University of Copenhagen, disputes the claim of novelty. Mestre asserts that he and his colleagues have been studying these enzymes, which they call ‘jumbotrons,’ since 2022. He further claims that his team had shared unpublished details of their research through Anthropic’s Claude models, raising questions regarding the independence of the AI's discovery.
While some experts, such as MIT professor Feng Zhang, have called the identification of these RNA-repeat arrays an exciting example of AI's potential in biological research, the dispute highlights the complexities of AI-driven scientific breakthroughs and the overlap between human research and machine learning outputs.
Entities
Anthropic · Claude · Feng Zhang · Mario Rodríguez Mestre · University of Copenhagen
Claims
What the coverage asserts, and how many sources carry each claim.
- [● 2 SOURCES] ReNAgade Therapeutics filed a 2023 patent covering several reverse transcriptases, including those identified by Mestre. yournews.com · www.breitbart.com
- [● 2 SOURCES] Computational biologist Mario Rodríguez Mestre claims he and his team identified these enzymes in 2022. yournews.com · www.breitbart.com
- [● 2 SOURCES] The AI process involved 950 Claude agents processing 210 million tokens over 21 hours to identify the enzyme system. www.breitbart.com · www.cnet.com
- [○ 1 SOURCE] MIT professor Feng Zhang described the identification of the RNA-repeat arrays as an exciting example of AI's contribution to biological discovery. www.cnet.com
- [● 3 SOURCES] Anthropic's AI agents independently identified a previously unknown biological system called array-associated reverse transcriptases (ARTs). yournews.com · www.breitbart.com · www.cnet.com
- [○ 1 SOURCE] Mestre asserts that his team had shared unpublished details of their research regarding these enzymes through Anthropic’s Claude models. yournews.com