Anthropic maps first 3D structure of a prokaryotic vault particle using Claude

Anthropic's biology lab used its Claude model to search the literature, refine lab methods, and map a mysterious protein barrel from a bacteriophage Anthropic’s biology research lab says it has produced the first 3D structure of a vault particle found in prokaryotic cells. Its AI model, Claude, helped at nearly every stage of the work. Vaults are giant, hollow protein barrels that show up in cells across the tree of life. Scientists have known about them since 1986. They still don’t know what vaults actually do. What Anthropic actually did The specific vault in question comes from a bacteriophage. That’s a virus that infects bacteria, a category of life that sits far from the human cells where vaults are better known. Until now, structural work on vaults has focused on eukaryotic cells. Those are the complex cells that make up plants, animals, and fungi. Anthropic’s result is the first 3D structure drawn from the prokaryotic side of the ledger. Anthropic announced the finding on November 4, 2026. The company described Claude’s role across three distinct steps of the project. First, the literature search. Claude combed through sequence literature to help identify where vault-like pr...