Anthropic launches life sciences lab and says Claude identified a novel enzyme system with CRISPR-like repeat features

Anthropic introduced a new life sciences research group and lab focused on using Claude to analyze DNA datasets, identify uncharacterized protein families, generate hypotheses, and test them experimentally. The company says Claude, guided at a high level by scientists, discovered a novel enzyme system with properties reminiscent of CRISPR.

The announcement points to a broader shift toward AI agents participating across the full scientific workflow, from data mining to hypothesis generation and lab validation. If repeatable, this model could accelerate biotech discovery by surfacing useful molecular systems hidden in large biological datasets.