Two complementary advances surfaced: researchers reported AI systems capable of designing complete bacteriophage genomes from scratch, and separate teams described a Golden Gate‑based fully synthetic phage engineering pipeline. Together, the works demonstrate accelerated routes to bespoke phage therapeutics and strain engineering. The AI study highlighted both therapeutic potential and biosecurity concerns, noting models can generate viable genome designs and underscoring the need for governance. The Golden Gate method reduces labor in phage construction, enabling faster prototyping of therapeutically relevant phage variants for antibiotic‑resistant infections. The pairing of computational design with streamlined assembly promises to compress cycles from concept to candidate, but authors and commentators urged immediate focus on containment, oversight, and dual‑use risk mitigation as capabilities scale.
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