Claude discovers a novel enzyme system with CRISPR-like repeats
Anthropic says Claude identified ART, a previously uncharacterized reverse-transcriptase system found mainly in bacteriophages.
The system pairs an RT enzyme with a neighboring partner gene and a long array of evenly spaced DNA repeats. Anthropic says the pattern resembles CRISPR arrays, though ART’s function is still unknown. Claude’s agents found it after searching RT sequences at scale; human scientists then reviewed and tested the lead in the lab. Anthropic's note
The system pairs an RT enzyme with a neighboring partner gene and a long array of evenly spaced DNA repeats. Anthropic says the pattern resembles CRISPR arrays, though ART’s function is still unknown. Claude’s agents found it after searching RT sequences at scale; human scientists then reviewed and tested the lead in the lab. Anthropic's note
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