Researchers used AlphaFold‑3 to predict a monkeypox viral surface protein, OPG153, as a neutralizing antibody target; murine immunizations with OPG153 produced neutralizing antibodies, opening a path for simpler protein‑based vaccines and antibody therapies reported in Science Translational Medicine. The team isolated neutralizing antibodies from vaccinated or convalescent human plasma and used structural AI to map binding sites rapidly. Concurrently, the UK Health Security Agency reported a recombinant mpox strain containing elements of clade Ib and IIb in a traveler, underlining the virus’s genomic plasticity and the need for ongoing surveillance. The UKHSA noted that the fitness and circulation history of the recombinant lineage are unclear from a single genome. Together the findings stress the dual urgency of accelerated antigen discovery using AI and sustained genomic surveillance to track viral evolution and inform next‑generation vaccines and therapeutics.