A strange pattern in bacterial DNA has led Anthropic researchers to a previously unknown biological system. The company says Claude found the pattern while searching vast genetic databases for unusual reverse transcriptases. The discovery, array-associated reverse transcriptases, or ARTs, is still at an early stage. Researchers do not yet know what the system does inside a living cell.
ART is not a new gene-editing technology yet. No one has shown that it can edit DNA, target a chosen sequence or perform the kind of programmable genetic changes associated with CRISPR.
