ScienceClaude reportedly finds a previously unknown enzyme system in bacteriophage DNA
Anthropic says a long array of repeating DNA beside the enzymeβs gene looks somewhat similar to CRISPR. The company does not yet understand what the system does or whether it could have similar uses.
TLDR
Anthropic announced on September 23, 2026, that Claude had discovered a previously unknown enzyme system in bacteriophage DNA. The company says only a handful of known systems share its features, and all of those can cut, copy and paste DNA. But the new systemβs function remains unknown. Anthropic says much more work is needed to understand it and determine whether it could have uses similar to CRISPR, which underpins genetic medicines.
Claude reportedly finds a previously unknown enzyme system in bacteriophage DNA
Anthropic says a long array of repeating DNA beside the enzymeβs gene looks somewhat similar to CRISPR. The company does not yet understand what the system does or whether it could have similar uses.