Seek Labs Publishes Editorial Review on the Future of CRISPR Antivirals in an Era of AI-Designed Viral Threats

Seek Labs today announced the publication of a new editorial review in Viruses (MDPI), authored by Alison O’Mahony, Senior VP of Research, and Douglas P. Gladue, VP of Veterinary Therapeutics, which examines how CRISPR-based therapeutics could meet the rising challenge of both naturally occurring pathogens and AI-enabled viral threats. The review reinforces the critical need for platform-based, programmable solutions that unify discovery, design, and development for novel and emerging threats. This is precisely the role of Seek Labs’ integrated technology platforms: BioSeeker™, which rapidly maps viral genomes and identifies high-impact therapeutic targets, and programmable therapeutics, which translate those insights into CRISPR-based antivirals.

Key Highlights

AI is Accelerating the Emergence of Viral Threats

• Microsoft researchers recently demonstrated AI-generated harmful protein sequences evaded 3% of industry-standard biosecurity screening tools [1].
• Scientists at Stanford published the first AI-designed functional bacteriophages [2].
• Artificial intelligence is transforming the global risk landscape, accelerating how quickly novel viral threats can emerge, including engineered pathogens for which no countermeasures exist.

Synthetic Virology Is Not New, But AI is Changing Its Speed

• Prior demonstrations of synthetic virology include the synthetic creation of poliovirus (2002) [3] and the reconstruction of horsepoxvirus (2018) [4].
• Synthetic virology has long posed dual-use risks; today, AI removes design bottlenecks to enable the creation of pathogens with functional novelty, not just replication of known/existing viruses, as demonstrated by King et al. [2].

Real-World Evidence is Emerging for CRISPR-based Antivirals

• Where traditional countermeasures may not be able to keep pace, CRISPR’s advantages shine: it offers hours-to-days response times, broad efficacy against strains, and lower resistance potential compared to vaccines or small molecules.
• Seek Labs’ own peer-reviewed in vivo study demonstrates the feasibility of CRISPR as an antiviral modality, showing 57% survival and full viral clearance in pigs infected with a lethal ASFV dose [5].
• Published studies in influenza models have shown CRISPR-mediated knockdown of essential viral polymerase genes and significant reduction in viral replication [6,7].
• Together, these results validate the core principle underlying Seek Labs’ programmable CRISPR-based therapeutic approach: targeted gene disruption can blunt or eliminate active infection across both RNA and DNA viruses.

Why A Next-Gen Approach Matters

• As AI accelerates and reshapes global biothreats, traditional antiviral development approaches cannot keep pace.
• The convergence of AI-driven discovery with programmable CRISPR therapeutics will define the next era of antiviral defense.

Seek Labs is not only preparing for this future but actively building the technology stack required to lead it, backed by peer-reviewed in vivo results and a platform designed for the speed and complexity of modern outbreaks.