内容来源：https://www.sciencenews.org/article/ai-proteins-biosecurity-safeguards

内容总结：

近日，国际科研团队在《科学》杂志发布研究成果称，通过人工智能技术设计的蛋白质可能绕过现有生物安全筛查系统，而升级后的监测软件能显著提升对这类潜在风险物质的识别能力。

目前全球范围内采用的生物安全筛查软件主要对人工合成蛋白质的流程进行监控，以防止恶意合成毒素等有害蛋白质。但研究表明，利用AI对已知毒素或病毒蛋白进行细微修饰即可突破现有防护体系。通过修补软件漏洞，系统对AI设计风险蛋白质的标记准确率得到提升。

微软首席科学官埃里克·霍维茨在新闻发布会上强调：“AI进步正推动生物医学领域突破，但新能力也伴随着保持警惕和审慎管理风险的责任。”

研究人员通过计算机模拟测试发现，在生成的7.6万个有害蛋白质蓝图中，包括蓖麻毒素、肉毒杆菌神经毒素等物质的原始形态几乎都能被系统识别，但经AI调整的版本多数可逃过筛查。软件升级后即使基因被分解成片段也能有效监测，仅约3%的变异体未被标记。

旧金山DNA合成公司Twist Bioscience的生物安全政策副总裁詹姆斯·迪根斯表示，实际生产中触发生物安全警报的情况“极为罕见”，恶意合成蛋白质的企图“接近零”。他同时指出，现有防护体系仍是抵御潜在威胁的重要屏障，公众无需过度担忧。目前该研究仅停留在计算机模拟阶段，AI设计的蛋白质是否仍具生物活性尚待验证。

中文翻译：

人工智能设计蛋白质测试生物安全防护措施
生物安全筛查软件新升级，拦截毒性蛋白质能力提升

通过最新升级，生物安全筛查软件现能更有效阻止利用人工智能技术制造潜在有害蛋白质的行为。全球范围内，这类软件持续监控人工合成蛋白质的流程，防止恶意分子制造毒素等危险蛋白质。但《科学》杂志10月2日刊文指出，研究者通过人工智能对已知毒素或病毒蛋白质进行细微修饰后，可成功绕过防护系统。不过通过补全筛查漏洞，能显著提升程序标记人工智能设计风险蛋白质的能力。

“人工智能进步正推动生物学与医学领域的突破，”微软首席科学官埃里克·霍维茨在9月30日的新闻发布会上表示，“但新能力也意味着需要承担保持警惕与审慎管理风险的责任。”

作为生物体内的中坚力量，蛋白质分子承担着细胞构建、物质运输等重要功能。借助人工智能，研究者不仅能精准调控现有蛋白质执行特定任务，还可设计新型蛋白质乃至创造新生物体。虽然人工智能能通过测算所需氨基酸来生成蛋白质数字蓝图，但该技术尚无法凭空构建实体蛋白质。实际操作中，DNA制造商会拼接特定基因序列，将合成基因运送至研究实验室，而计算机程序则负责筛查订单以确保基因不会制造危险蛋白质。

霍维茨团队通过模拟生物安全筛查测试，发现了可能被人工智能设计蛋白质利用的系统漏洞。研究小组针对蓖麻毒素、肉毒杆菌神经毒素等72种有害蛋白质，生成了约7.6万种设计蓝图。结果显示，安全系统虽能识别绝大多数原始形态蛋白质对应的DNA，却漏过了许多经人工智能修饰的版本。安装软件补丁后，即便基因被分解成片段也能被有效识别，但仍有约3%的变异体未被标记。

需要说明的是，该研究完全基于计算机模拟，团队并未在实验室实际制造蛋白质，因此人工智能设计的变异体是否仍保持功能尚不明确。

旧金山DNA合成公司Twist Bioscience的政策与生物安全副总裁詹姆斯·迪根斯在发布会上指出：“现实中蛋白质订单被安全系统标记的情况极为罕见。”他强调，虽然网络威胁无时无刻存在，但试图制造恶意蛋白质的行为“几乎为零”，“现有系统是抵御威胁的重要屏障，而威胁罕有发生的事实也应让我们感到安心”。

英文来源：

AI-designed proteins test biosecurity safeguards
New fixes to monitoring software boosts its ability to catch AI-altered toxic proteins
New patches to biosecurity screening software can make it harder to produce potentially harmful proteins using artificial intelligence.
Around the world, this software monitors processes to artificially make proteins, ensuring that people with bad intentions aren’t producing dangerous proteins, such as toxins. Making slight tweaks with AI to known toxins or viral proteins can bypass the safeguards, researchers report in the Oct. 2 Science. But reinforcing gaps in screening can boost the programs’ ability to flag risky AI-designed proteins.
“AI advances are fueling breakthroughs in biology and medicine,” Eric Horvitz, chief scientific officer at Microsoft in Redmond, Wash., said at a Sept. 30 news briefing. “Yet with new power comes responsibility for vigilance and thoughtful risk management.”
Proteins are the workhorses of biology. The molecules perform cellular tasks such as assembling cells and transporting cargo throughout the body. With AI, researchers are unlocking ways to fine-tune existing proteins to carry out specific tasks, to design new proteins or to generate new organisms.
AI can generate digital blueprints for proteins by determining the amino acids needed to make them, but the technology can’t construct physical proteins from thin air. DNA manufacturers string together the appropriate genetic letters and ship the synthetic genes to research labs. Computer programs screen the orders to make sure that the genes don’t make hazardous proteins.
Horvitz and colleagues simulated tests for biosecurity screening models to find weaknesses that could let AI-generated proteins slip by filters. The team generated roughly 76,000 blueprints for 72 harmful proteins, including ricin, botulinum neurotoxin and ones that help viruses infect people.
While the biosecurity screens flagged the DNA for nearly all proteins in their original forms, many AI-adjusted versions snuck through. Software patches helped, even picking up genes after they’d been broken down into fragments. The models failed to flag about 3 percent of variants.
The work was done entirely on computers, meaning that the team did not make physical proteins in the lab, and it’s unclear if the AI-generated variants retained their function.
In reality, biosecurity screens flagging orders for concerning proteins “is an incredibly rare thing,” James Diggans, vice president of policy and biosecurity at Twist Bioscience, a DNA synthesis company based in San Francisco, said at the news briefing.
While cybersecurity threats happen all the time, “close to zero” people have tried to produce malicious proteins, Diggans said. “These systems are an important bulwark against [threats], but we should all find comfort in the fact that this is not a common scenario.”