AI Breaking Records with Virus Detection
Researchers from China, Hong Kong, and Australia have discovered 162,000 new RNA virus species based on genetic data using an AI virus tool developed by Alibaba.
The viruses existed in extreme environments to further advance the notion of virus diversity.
The discovery of this AI RNA virus tool is a result of a collaboration between Alibaba Cloud Intelligence and virologists, with the finding published in the Cell journal, revealing the legacy AI is marking in virus research while also improving knowledge about life in extreme environments.
AI Detecting Viruses in Less Than a Second
Developed by Alibaba Cloud Intelligence in collaboration with virologists to detect RNA viruses by conducting a rapid scan of public databases of an AI genetic sequence. What sets AI in virology apart from the field is the speed with which that AI tool was able to identify if a sequence represents a new species of RNA virus, taking less than a second to do so.
Traditional methods take much longer, and this AI took virus detection to another level altogether.
The researchers then created a deep learning algorithm called LucaProt and used it to calculate enormous genetic sequence data such as long virus genomes with sizes reaching 47,250 nucleotides and genomically complex information in the process of finding over 160,000 viruses.
Senior author Professor Edwards Holmes, stated, “The vast majority of these viruses had been sequenced already and were on public databases, but they were so divergent that no one knew what they were.”
On the other hand, researchers emphasized in the paper titled “Using artificial intelligence to document the hidden RNA virosphere” that this new approach outperformed conventional methods.
“We developed a data-driven deep learning model that outperforms conventional methods in accuracy, efficiency, and, most importantly, the breadth of virus diversity detected,” the research team wrote in the study.
Using AI, researchers discovered RNA viruses everywhere in not-so-friendly environments, such as the atmosphere, hot springs, and hydrothermal vents.
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