Science Shockers: AI-Created Viruses, “Water Worlds” Debunked & More (Sept 19–20, 2025)
Key Facts Artificial Intelligence & Technology AI Designs New Viruses: In a stunning demonstration of AI’s creative power, scientists announced they have used artificial intelligence to design the first-ever viruses from scratch. The AI wrote complete viral genomes for bacteriophages (viruses that infect bacteria) which were then synthesized in the lab nature.com. Several of these AI-generated phages successfully infected and killed E. coli bacteria that natural phages couldn’t attack nature.com. “This is the first time AI systems are able to write coherent genome-scale sequences,” said Stanford computational biologist Brian Hie, calling it a step toward “AI-generated life” nature.com. While still