# AI-designed phages halt E. coli growth in laboratory tests

_Sunday, August 30, 2026 at 1:43 AM EDT · Science, AI · Latest · Tier 2 — Notable_

![AI-designed phages halt E. coli growth in laboratory tests — Primary](https://www.thecooldown.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/brianhie_image_2024.jpeg)

Researchers used the generative AI models Evo 1 and Evo 2 to create bacteriophage designs similar to Phi X-174, a virus that infects E. coli. From roughly 700,000 candidate designs, the team built 285 in the lab; 16 synthetic phages halted E. coli growth in Petri dishes. Together, those 16 phages also attacked two antibiotic-resistant E. coli strains in later experiments, where Phi X-174 and a mix of natural phages did not succeed.

## Sources

- [thecooldown.com](https://www.thecooldown.com/green-tech/ai-design-viruses-bacteriophages-drug-hopes-fears/)

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Retrieved: 2026-08-30T22:45:25.340Z
Publisher: Tech & Business (techandbusiness.org)