Issue #23 | Wednesday, September 24, 2025 | ⏳ Read Time: ~8 Minutes

👋 Welcome to Vet to the Future

This week highlights the edges of biology and technology where lines blur and new possibilities emerge. Researchers have used AI to design and print functioning viruses—a milestone with profound therapeutic promise and equally profound biosecurity concerns.

At the same time, cognition and communication take center stage: dogs showing toddler-level word comprehension, chimps metabolizing alcohol with ease, and AI models beginning to map out animal languages. Add in AI-powered cancer diagnostics and fresh momentum for de-extinction projects, and we’re reminded that the future of veterinary medicine is less about “what if” and more about “what now.”

⚡ Quick Hits

🧫 Scientists Printed Viruses Designed by AI
Futurism reports on AI-designed phages that were synthesized and shown to replicate—raising promise and policy questions. 🔗 Read More

🐕 Gifted dogs show human-like understanding of verbal labels
New Atlas explains how a select group of dogs generalized words by function, not just appearance. 🔗 Read More

🧪 The role of AI in cancer diagnostics
Veterinary Practice News surveys how ML improves detection and supports clinicians across imaging and cytology. 🔗 Read More

🦣 Colossal Biosciences raises $120M for de-extinction push
BusinessWire details new funding and avian PGC breakthroughs supporting projects like the dodo. 🔗 Read More

📡 AI may help us understand animal languages
Discover Magazine recaps progress toward decoding communication in whales and other species. 🔗 Read More

🍺 Chimps consume alcohol equivalent of nearly 2 drinks a day
Ars Technica covers new field data suggesting daily ethanol intake from fermented fruit. 🔗 Read More

🦠 World’s first AI-designed viruses a step toward AI-generated life
Nature’s overview of AI-written viral genomes (bacteriophages) and what comes next. 🔗 Read More

🧬 Using Antech KeyScreen™ GI Parasite PCR to diagnose drug-resistant hookworms
Case-based walk-through on molecular GI parasite testing in practice. 🔗 Read More

⚖️ Productivity and People: Striking the Right AI Balance
How culture and workflow shape whether AI actually reduces burnout. 🔗 Read More

📅 Veterinary conference calendar (September 2025)
Upcoming meetings and continuing-ed across the profession. 🔗 Read More

😮 AI provides relief for the relief veterinarian
DVM360 on digital scribes and documentation consistency for locum DVMs. 🔗 Read More

🧬 Osteosarcoma of the appendicular skeleton in dogs: consensus & guidelines
Frontiers in Vet Science publishes a 2025 consensus with practical recommendations. 🔗 Read More

🧠 7 Futuristic Professions in Healthcare You Can Still Prepare For
The Medical Futurist on roles emerging from the AI-powered care stack. 🔗 Read More

⚠️ Sam Altman addresses wave of “ChatGPT deaths”
The Byte highlights remarks on risks, responsibility, and guardrails for AI. 🔗 Read More

🕶️ Meta Ray-Ban Display hands-on: Discreet and intuitive
Engadget tries on Meta’s first AR display glasses. 🔗 Read More

🌱 AI & genetics to protect New Zealand’s native species
NPR (via Iowa Public Radio) on AI traps and genetic tools for Predator Free 2050. 🔗 Read More

🧠 Neuralink plans a brain speech trial in October
Engadget reports on a trial aiming to translate thoughts into text for speech-impaired patients. 🔗 Read More

📡 Can AI help decode animal communication?
Nature’s daily briefing on cross-species language research momentum. 🔗 Read More

🧬 Senescence-resistant progenitor cells counter aging in primates
Cell Press abstract of engineered MPCs improving aging markers in macaques. 🔗 Read More

🤿 Deep Dives: Big Stories, Bigger Impact

AI Prints the First Viruses

📝 Futurism | Sept 2025 | 🔗 Read More

The Scoop:
Researchers used AI to design bacteriophages, synthesized them, and showed they replicate and kill target bacteria—effectively closing the loop from digital genome design to living, functional phage. Therapeutically, that hints at on-demand antimicrobials and bespoke vectors for gene delivery where traditional antibiotics fail.

But the same capability sharpens dual-use concerns. When algorithms can output viable genomes, oversight, screening, and global norms become as critical as lab technique. Expect vigorous debate on access controls, DNA screening standards, and how to audit AI-assisted design.

🧠 Why it matters:
✅ Potential therapies – Custom phages for drug-resistant infections.
✅ Biosecurity – Raises the bar for safeguards and governance.
✅ Platform shift – Biology increasingly designed like software.

Join the Conversation:
Would you back fast-track clinical pilots for AI-designed phages if they target otherwise untreatable infections?

Dogs Who Understand Words Like Toddlers

📝 New Atlas | Sept 2025 | 🔗 Read More

The Scoop:
A study of seven “gifted word learner” dogs found they extended labels to new objects based on function, not just appearance—akin to early human label extension (e.g., calling both a hammer and a rock “hammer” if used for hammering). That’s beyond simple shape matching.

Methodologically, owners taught “Pull” and “Fetch” labels across varied toys during home play; when presented with new toys later, dogs still selected by function above chance. It’s a small cohort, but it pushes our understanding of canine generalization.

🧠 Why it matters:
✅ Training – Smarter cues for assistance and therapy dogs.
✅ Comparative cognition – Fresh data on nonhuman concept learning.
✅ Bonding – Better two-way communication with pets.

Join the Conversation:
What’s a word your patients’ owners swear their dog truly “gets”—and how could we test it?

AI in Cancer Diagnostics

📝 Veterinary Practice News | Sept 2025 | 🔗 Read More

The Scoop:
From imaging triage to cytology classification, ML systems are already boosting sensitivity and consistency. I’ve been lucky enough to use this tool in practice and have found lymphoma from some samples in hospital. Earlier flagging means earlier interventions and better odds—especially for cancers that hide in subtle grayscale patterns or ambiguous cells.

Clinically, these tools work best as “second readers,” reducing fatigue and standardizing quality across busy teams. The emerging trend: point-of-care AI (e.g., cytology assist) feeding faster decision-making and clearer client conversations.

🧠 Why it matters:
✅ Earlier detection – Improves outcomes.
✅ Workload relief – Frees cognitive bandwidth.
✅ Precision care – Segmentation and subtype hints guide therapy.

Join the Conversation:
Where would AI save you the most time today—radiology reads, cytology, or discharge instructions?

De-Extinction Gets Another $120M Boost

📝 BusinessWire | Sept 2025 | 🔗 Read More

The Scoop:
Colossal’s “add-on” funding accompanies an avian genetics milestone: culturing pigeon primordial germ cells—the sort of step necessary for any credible path to dodo revival. Beyond headlines, those pipelines (editing, germ-line chimeras, biobanking) have conservation and livestock spin-offs.

Skeptics ask the right questions—identity/authenticity of revived animals, ecological fit, and diversion of resources from living species. Proponents argue the tooling accelerates conservation genetics and ecosystem repair.

🧠 Why it matters:
✅ Tooling for conservation – Better germ-line and assisted reproduction tech.
✅ Ethics in the open – Forces design of welfare and rewilding frameworks.
✅ Clinical spillover – Gene editing, IVF, and screening tech cross-pollinate.

Join the Conversation:
If “proxy dodos” return, what veterinary surveillance and welfare standards should be mandatory?

Cracking the Code of Animal Languages

📝 Discover Magazine | Sept 2025 | 🔗 Read More

The Scoop:
Large, annotated audio datasets plus representation learning are uncovering structure in whale clicks and other signals—opening the door to hypothesis-driven studies (context, identity, intent) rather than guesswork. Early models are classification aids, not translators, but they’re accelerating research.

The hard part is grounding: linking sound patterns to observable state, context, and outcomes—ideally across populations and species. Field robotics, biologgers, and long-term monitoring will be as important as the models themselves.

🧠 Why it matters:
✅ Welfare – Detect distress or pain signals proactively.
✅ Conservation – Monitor populations and threats at scale.
✅ Bond – A more reciprocal human-animal relationship.

Join the Conversation:
Which species’ “lexicon” would most change your clinical/welfare decisions if we understood it?

🙌🏼 Impressive Animals 🐾

Chimps Drink Like Humans (Sort Of)

📝 Ars Technica | Sept 2025 | 🔗 Read More

The Scoop:
Field sampling of wild fruits at Ugandan and Ivorian sites suggests daily dietary ethanol intake for chimps—roughly equivalent to ~1–2 human drinks adjusted for
body mass. Crucially, exposure is distributed across the day, with no overt intoxication observed.

The findings bolster the “drunken monkey” hypothesis and open questions about metabolism, liver adaptations, and whether selection favored attraction to high-sugar (and therefore often higher-ethanol) fruit.

🧠 Why it matters:
✅ Evolutionary insight – Dietary ethanol may be ancient and widespread.
✅ Comparative hepatology – Natural models for tolerance and metabolism.
✅ Behavior – Ecological context shapes consumption patterns.

Join the Conversation:
If low-level ethanol exposure is normal in the wild, how should we think about lab diets and enrichment?

💊℞: Dose of Humor

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🎬 Closing Thoughts

This issue is about boundaries shifting. The boundary between code and life, as AI designs viable viruses. The boundary between humans and animals, as we glimpse the cognitive depths of dogs and chimps. And the boundary between extinction and existence, as de-extinction technologies push forward.

Each advance raises opportunities and obligations. Our job is not only to harness these tools, but to ensure they’re applied with foresight and compassion. The future will always test limits—what matters is how wisely we translate discovery into care.

Cheers,
— Ross

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