AI can design viruses, toxins and other bioweapons. How worried should we be?

"Their stings contain a cocktail of small proteins called conotoxins, some of which can block ion channels in the nervous system. No antivenom exists. There are hundreds of thousands of conotoxin structures, and many are harmless to people or even medicinally useful: an approved treatment for chronic pain is derived from one, for instance. But research on specific dangerous conotoxins is highly restricted in some countries."

"In 2024, when Chinese scientists reported developing an artificial-intelligence tool to design conotoxins, it raised eyebrows in some quarters. In an e-mail to a private AI and biotechnology discussion group seen by Nature, a senior US government employee flagged the study as a possible biosecurity risk. The employee, who asked not to be named because of concerns for their job, felt it was especially concerning that the conotoxin AI is based on an open-source protein language model developed by US scientists."

"One of the conotoxin study's authors told Nature that the concern is unwarranted. The work was aimed squarely at discovering drugs, says Weiwei Xue, a computational chemist at Chongqing University in China and a co-author of the paper. Xue's team has found some conotoxins with potential therapeutic qualities after testing designs in the laboratory, he says. Although it is important to consider the risk that the AI tool could be misused, it was not designed to make harmful proteins, he adds."

"What's more, translating designs into physical molecules requires significant expertise and equipment. Other researchers also told Nature that the risks of the work seem minimal. The episode, however, illustrates a growing concern over emerging AI tools in biology; although they are being developed to help produce innovative drugs and other societal benefits, they could also make it easier to create new threats."

Cone snails can kill people through venom containing conotoxins, small proteins that can block ion channels in the nervous system. No antivenom exists. Many conotoxins are harmless or useful for medicine, including an approved chronic pain treatment derived from one. Research on dangerous conotoxins is restricted in some countries. In 2024, Chinese scientists reported an AI tool for designing conotoxins, raising biosecurity concerns. A US government employee flagged the work as a possible risk, especially because it uses an open-source protein language model. Study authors said the goal was drug discovery, with laboratory testing of therapeutic candidates, and that misuse would require expertise and equipment. The incident reflects broader concerns about AI in biology enabling new threats.

Read at Nature