Claude autonomously performs brain gene therapy surgery on mice
What happened
On 31 October 2026, The Decoder reported that a research team had Claude Sonnet 5 autonomously select a gene therapy, brain region and injection coordinates for epileptic mice, and operate custom surgical equipment to complete the injection, with no human decision-making at any point. The agent analysed the mechanism of epileptic seizures, chose one of 19 candidate therapies, derived the injection coordinates from three papers, and made 32 observations via camera during the procedure. The reported progress so far: the autonomous process completed one injection in an epileptic mouse model; the report does not mention subsequent validation or repeat experiments.
Written by AI from the reports · updated 4 h ago
Timeline
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- The DecoderA Claude model autonomously chose a gene therapy and operated on a mouse brain with no human decision-making
An AI agent performed brain surgery on an epileptic mouse, picking the drug, the brain target, and the injection coordinates on its own. According to lead researcher Ocana-Santero, it's the first time an AI agent has autonomously chosen a treatment and delivered it to a living mammal.
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