Scientists used an AI called "Evo" to design whole viruses from scratch. Don't worry: they infect bacteria, not humans – and could become the antibiotics of the future as drug resistance grows.

But some experts warn it's an "urgent" biosecurity concern: AI-generated DNA can slip past existing safety screening. Once AI can write biological code – who decides what it's allowed to design?

(Sun Dan, Gao Yun and Gong Zhe contributed to the story. Cover by Li Wenyi)