DeepMind tests watermarks for AI-designed proteins, but researchers can remove them
Google DeepMind introduced SynthID Bio on September 30 and published a paper in Nature. Its methods add identifying marks to AI-designed protein sequences or structures. In lab tests with binders for three target proteins, the watermarked versions bound about as well as the unwatermarked controls.
Verified 12:42 AM PDT · 3 original sources
The study tests whether researchers can trace where a protein came from. It does not show that screening systems use the marks today or that the marks prevent biological harm. Structural relaxation destroyed the structural watermark, and redesign can remove the sequence marks. Alphabet funded the study, and every author works for the company.
Independent tests can show whether the marks survive beyond the study's conditions and how easily researchers can remove them.
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