LucaProt, a groundbreaking artificial intelligence (AI) model has just uncovered nearly 162,000 hidden viruses lurking in the world’s most extreme places—from hot springs to the atmosphere—reshaping our view of Earth’s unseen ecosystems. Led by Professor Edwards Holmes from the University of Sydney and published in Cell, the study marks the largest single discovery of virus species ever recorded, shedding new light on the unexplored viral diversity of Earth.

By identifying ribonucleic acid (RNA) viruses, many of which reside in extreme environments such as hot springs, hydrothermal vents, and the atmosphere, this research promises to revolutionize our understanding of viral evolution and ecology.

“This is the largest number of new virus species discovered in a single study, massively expanding our knowledge of the viruses that live among us,” said Professor Holmes.

RNA viruses, often linked to human disease, are key players in global ecosystems. The LucaProt model was able to analyze complex viral genomes, including some over 47,000 nucleotides long, which traditional tools couldn’t handle. It identified highly divergent viruses, known as genetic dark matter, with over 98% recall; an improvement from 42% thru traditional methods.

Researchers identified viruses across 32 ecosystem subtypes, including soil, aquatic, and sediment environments. This demonstrated the RNA viruses’ resilience in extreme habitats and expanded the known viral taxonomies by 55 times.

“That extreme environments carry so many types of viruses is just another example of their phenomenal diversity and tenacity to live in the harshest settings, potentially giving us clues on how viruses and other elemental life forms came to be,” Professor Holmes said. “We have been offered a window into an otherwise hidden part of life on earth, revealing remarkable biodiversity.”

LucaProt’s success suggests AI could also be applied to uncover other forms of life, like bacteria and parasites. Co-author Professor Mang Shi of Sun Yat-sen University highlighted its broader potential, saying, “We plan to apply this model across various applications.”

Along with AI’s recent win at the Nobel Prize for predicting protein structures, it’s clear that the field is pushing boundaries and opening new frontiers in life sciences. LucaProt represents the integration of cutting-edge AI technology and virology, telling the science community that AI can effectively accomplish tasks in biological exploration.

“The obvious next step is to train our method to find even more of this amazing diversity, and who knows what extra surprises are in store,” Holmes said.

With this groundbreaking AI-driven discovery, LucaProt is poised to transform biological research, offering scientists an unprecedented glimpse into the hidden, microscopic world that shapes life on Earth.