Anthropic biology lab reports first prokaryotic vault particle structure, solved with Claude

Anthropic's biology research lab reports the first 3D structure of a vault particle found in prokaryotic cells, a phage protein called L05 built from 96 copies with a mass of about 9.5 megadaltons. Under the team's direction, Claude searched a database of about 15 billion predicted proteins, designed DNA constructs, optimized a size-exclusion chromatography isolation that cut purification from three days to about 90 minutes, and ran RELION cryo-EM processing that produced a first full model in 34 hours. The preprint has been submitted to bioRxiv, and the team says the vaults' biological function remains unknown.