AI agent injects a gene therapy into a live mouse's brain in lab experiment

A San Francisco startup, Exin Therapeutics, connected an AI agent to a robotic surgical rig and had it inject a therapy into the brain of a live mouse with epilepsy. A veterinary surgeon first performed the craniotomy.

Therapies to choose from

19 options in a spreadsheet

The agent chose the therapy, the brain region and the injection coordinates, then controlled the needle, volume and speed.

Claude Opus 5.5 declined to guide the needle, saying it might stop midway and endanger the animal. Claude Sonnet 5 agreed to proceed.

A coordinate glitch stretched the procedure to just over an hour, against a typical 45 minutes, and a separate AI agent fixed the code without being told surgery was under way. The mouse is recovering well.