Now, MIT scientists have released an AI called DefensePredictor that can root out new bacterial defense systems in five minutes, instead of weeks or months. As proof of concept, DefensePredictor churned through hundreds of thousands of proteins in multiple strains of Escherichia coli (E. coli). Over 600 proteins not previously linked to immune defense popped up. Added to a vulnerable strain of bacteria, a subset of these protected them against attack.

“E. coli harbors a much broader landscape of antiphage defense than previously realized, expanding the likely number of systems by multiple orders of magnitude,” wrote the team.

These systems might hold secrets about how immunity evolved. And because the proteins may work in different ways, they could be a goldmine for next-generation precision molecular tools.