Universities Teaming Up To Identify Viruses In Human Bodies Using AI

The New York Times (2/19, Zimmer) reports “scientists estimate that tens of trillions of viruses live inside of us, though they’ve identified just a fraction of them.” This year, the Times says, “five universities are teaming up for an unprecedented hunt to identify these viruses.” The universities “will gather saliva, stool, blood, milk and other samples from thousands of volunteers.” The five-year effort, named “the Human Virome Program and supported by $171 million in federal funding, will inspect the samples with artificial intelligence systems, hoping to learn about how the human virome influences our health.”