Citrini Research aimed to prove AI's potential in drug development by teaming with Anthropic to test an unreleased version of Claude for scorpion antivenom creation. The attempt failed to produce a usable drug but yielded promising starting points, according to experts.
Citrini, an investment research firm, admitted a lack of expertise in AI biology, stating, "none of us could claim to know anything about AI as it related to biology." They published a blog post detailing their amateurish scientific adventure, using rhetorical questions and referencing Charles Darwin.
Citrini previously circulated fictional content about an AI-induced economic catastrophe that shook markets. The firm also claimed to have visited the Strait of Hormuz to gain a firsthand perspective on regional volatility.
In partnership with Anthropic, which was weeks away from its IPO, Citrini faced biosecurity guardrails. They contacted Anthropic, who granted access to a restricted, unreleased model on-site for a cost of nearly $50,000.
They chose scorpion antivenom due to production difficulties. Using a 35-page prompt and 300 sub-agents, Claude generated 320,000 candidates, refining them to 211 designs over 64 hours.
The designs were tested by Adaptyv Bio and Twist Biosciences for $150,000. Seventeen proteins passed binding tests against four of five targeted toxins, though none bound to more than one.
Experts note that binding does not neutralize toxins. Andreas Hougaard Laustsen-Kiel and Melisa Benard Valle emphasized that while the "autonomous discovery" is novel, translating binders into medicine is the hard part, calling the results "far from a medicine and hyped."
Andreas Bender stated that existing high-throughput screening methods can also find hits without AI. The challenge is "translation" into effective treatments that work in living systems.
Citrini declared the experiment a success for investment opportunities. They dismissed critics as "nitpick[ing]" and noted the AI portion was "free" despite Anthropic covering the costs. They highlighted companies like Charles River Laboratories for subscribers.
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