Nicolas Robine

Congrats. And be careful, genomics people: SPARK != SPARC 😂 sparkforautism.org/ sparc.utswmed.org/

SPARC is @UTSWMedCenter new population genomics program! Website: sparc.utswmed.org/ Goal is to enroll 150,000 participants to support clinical and basic research. Thread with details on the objectives + logistics

Claude has discovered a previously unknown enzyme system hidden in the DNA of bacteriophages. Beside the enzyme’s gene sits a long array of repeating DNA—a structure that looks somewhat similar to CRISPR. We don’t yet understand what this system does, but only a handful of known systems share its features, and all of them are able to cut, copy, and paste DNA. Historically, the discovery of such programmable systems has helped revolutionize medicine. CRISPR, for instance, is now the foundation of genetic medicines. But it will take much more work to learn what this system does, and whether it can be put to similar use. Read more: anthropic.com/news/claude-di…

First Anthropic wet lab discovery. 'After 21 hours spent searching this data by roughly 950 agents using 210 million tokens, one of the agents spotted something remarkable: a repeating pattern of DNA sequences that occurs next to the gene for an odd-looking RT.'

Math Professors do not own math. Just the idea that letters are signed only by “Prize” winners should give one pause. If AI, which is a just but a non-human student of mathematicians, wins all the “Prizes” by solving things humans cannot, Professors should be proud of their progeny, not threatened. AI is Math. They should embrace the tool. Like vocalists embraced musical instruments. They should use their profoundly smart brains to engage larger problems or define their problem set more broadly. The burden to think more creatively rests solely on them. Meet the challenge or become less relevant. Maybe they should think about so many of the unsolved mysteries in physics and biology that AI can help us unravel. The best biologists are almost always lapsed mathematicians or physicists The world is changing. AI, risks properly managed, will open amazing new opportunities. We can solve disease, poverty, maybe take a whack at happiness. Instead of defending a guild, real scientists will embrace and celebrate the challenge to solve the very mysteries that enticed them to question the universe’s current state.