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Claude agents find a novel CRISPR-like reverse-transcriptase system
Tracks Anthropic's September 2026 announcement of its life-sciences group and wet labs and the agent-assisted discovery of the array-associated reverse transcriptase system, including lab follow-up, function and reactions.
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Overview
On September 23, 2026, Anthropic described how about 950 Claude agents used 210 million tokens over 21 hours to survey more than 200,000 reverse transcriptases. The search identified the array-associated reverse transcriptase system, found mainly in bacteriophages. Anthropic's life-sciences group, formed that spring, uses human lab work. Its experiments show the array produces short RNAs, but the system's function is unresolved. Anthropic describes finding a naturally occurring system, not creating one.
On Moonshots on September 27, 2026, Peter Diamandis described Claude as working autonomously; Anthropic's own account shows more human involvement. Diamandis and Alex Wissner-Gross called the wet labs hypocritical given Anthropic's slowdown message. Wissner-Gross nonetheless welcomed labs opening wet labs as the route to curing disease, and Salim Ismail flagged the risks of AI plus gene editing.
In an episode published on September 30, 2026, recorded on September 25, Colossal CEO Ben Lamm was asked, via a question Peter relayed from Cathie Wood, whether the announcement helps or hurts his work. Lamm called it massively validating and a watershed moment for the industry. He said biology has so many unsolved problems that the door is barely open, and rejected the view that biotech is now dead because Anthropic will do it all in its own labs. This is his interpretation, not new evidence about the discovery.
What changed
Dates show when each podcast discussion was published.
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Interpretation
Ben Lamm, Colossal's CEO, responded to a question relayed from Cathie Wood. He called Anthropic's wet-lab announcement massively validating and a watershed moment for the industry. He said biology has so many open problems that the door is barely cracked, and rejected the idea that biotech is now dead because Anthropic will do it all itself.
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New information
Moonshots discussed the agent search and Anthropic's new wet labs. Wissner-Gross called the move hypocritical but welcomed it as the route to curing disease. Ismail warned of 'full Frankenstein mode' when AI is combined with gene editing.
Podcast discussions
- Moonshots with Peter Diamandis Why We're Living in a Biological Singularity With Ben Lamm | MOONSHOTS Live #29730 Sep 2026
- Moonshots with Peter Diamandis Why Jensen and Zuck think the doomers are wrong (plus AI get’s a rebrand) | #294 MOONSHOTS Live28 Sep 2026
Sources
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Our coverage
Colossal's Ben Lamm says biology's AI edge lies in data, not models
Colossal CEO Ben Lamm says frontier AI can't read one genome and prescribe fixes. For three to five years, he sees it bridging messy research papers and designing experiments. He argues large comparative genome data sets matter more than models.
Version history
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30 Sep 2026 · Version 2
Ben Lamm, Colossal's CEO, responded to a question relayed from Cathie Wood. He called Anthropic's wet-lab announcement massively validating and a watershed moment for the industry. He said biology has so many open problems that the door is barely cracked, and rejected the idea that biotech is now dead because Anthropic will do it all itself.