ESM3 has simulated 500 million years of molecular evolution, enabling the design of a new fluorescent protein called esmGFP, which could significantly impact medicine and environmental science.

The newly designed fluorescent protein, esmGFP, is radically different from all known proteins, demonstrating ESM3's vast potential for innovation in protein engineering.

The model's training involved an extensive dataset of protein sequences, structures, and functional annotations, resulting in unprecedented accuracy in protein design.

ESM3 is currently accessible in a public beta version via an API, promoting collaboration and accelerating research within the scientific community.

To achieve its results, ESM3 utilized an extensive dataset comprising 771 billion tokens derived from 3.15 billion protein sequences, 236 million protein structures, and 539 million protein annotations.

ESM3 uniquely integrates the sequence, structure, and function of proteins, providing a holistic approach to protein engineering that could transform the field.

EvolutionaryScale, an AI startup founded by former Meta engineers and backed by Amazon and NVIDIA, launched a groundbreaking AI model named ESM3 in mid-2024.

The creation of esmGFP highlights ESM3's potential applications in designing therapeutic proteins, creating enzymes for environmental remediation, and developing materials with specific properties.

This artificial protein generation opens new research avenues for understanding proteins and developing novel applications, showcasing the model's ability to innovate beyond natural evolution.

Experts believe ESM3's capabilities could accelerate protein engineering applications, including drug design, while noting the limitations of simulating evolution in the context of natural selection.

The development of esmGFP contributes to the ongoing debate in evolutionary biology regarding determinism versus contingency.

The findings of this research were published in the journal Science on January 16, 2025, marking a pivotal moment in the application of AI in synthetic biology.