Claude discovers a novel enzyme system with CRISPR-like repeats
Anthropic is introducing a new life sciences research group and laboratory focused on fundamental biology research using Claude: exploring DNA datasets to identify uncharacterized protein families, generating hypotheses at scale, and testing them with experiments in the lab. The team was formed in spring 2026 to test whether general AI models can systematize and accelerate biological discovery, and the company argues that acceleration will come from a new way of doing research in which agents collaborate with humans at every step — which required building its own lab and a single team spanning everything from training Claude in biology to running experiments.
That approach is grounded in a historical pattern: many transformative biological tools began with a scientist noticing something odd in nature. Restriction enzymes, which cut DNA at specific short sequences, were found in bacterial immune systems where they destroy invading viral DNA, and their repurposing to cut DNA at chosen sites and splice genes between organisms launched the biotechnology industry. Taq polymerase, an enzyme that copies DNA at high temperatures, was identified in a bacterium in a Yellowstone hot spring and became the basis for PCR, used in much of modern diagnostics. CRISPR was first noticed as an unusual repeat sequence in certain bacteria and is now the foundation of gene editing-based medicines.
The early result Anthropic is sharing comes from one of its first research programs: Claude autonomously discovered a novel enzyme system associated with an array of DNA repeats, with only high-level direction from the company's scientists. Its function is not yet known, but it has a set of characteristics that have only ever been found together in a handful of other systems — all of which are programmable and perform operations such as cutting, copying, and pasting DNA. Beyond CRISPR, several other such systems are currently in development as promising tools.
The system Claude found is based on a reverse transcriptase (RT), an enzyme that copies RNA into DNA. While the underlying RT, found in a jumbo phage, had been identified in previous studies, Claude appears to be the first to notice the system's defining features: an associated array of non-coding DNA sequences and an additional accessory protein of unknown function.
After reviewing the preprint, Feng Zhang, one of the pioneers of CRISPR genome editing and a professor at MIT and the Broad Institute, commented that the work is "an exciting e..." (the excerpt is truncated at this point), underscoring the significance of the discovery for the field.