جيمس غالاغر

Researchers in the United States used AI models called Evo 1 and Evo 2 to design complete genomes for 302 candidate bacteriophages, successfully synthesizing them in the laboratory. Sixteen of the resulting viruses were able to attack and destroy E. coli, demonstrating for the first time that AI can design full viral genomes capable of functioning and replicating. The work could accelerate phage-based treatments for antibiotic-resistant bacterial infections, but experts warn that the same capabilities could eventually be misused to create harmful pathogens. The researchers limited the training data to viruses that infect bacteria and conducted the experiments under stringent laboratory safety controls; designing more complex living organisms remains considerably more difficult.

A study of nearly 65,000 UK Biobank participants found that people exposed to sugar rationing during early childhood had a 23% lower risk of dementia and were diagnosed about two and a half years later than those who were not. The research used the end of postwar UK sugar rationing as a natural experiment, when average consumption rose from roughly 41 to 80 grams per day. Researchers and health experts stressed that the observational design cannot prove that sugar directly causes dementia risk, and that differences in infant weaning, nutrition and other factors from the 1940s and 1950s limit how directly the findings apply to children today. A healthy, balanced diet is nevertheless presented as beneficial for brain health at any age.