Can AI predict which virus can jump from animal to human?

A University of Glasgow study developed machine learning models that could potentially identify animal viruses capable of infecting humans and classify how much of a risk they pose to humans by analyzing the genomes of viruses. The model outperformed models based on phylogenetic relatedness of specific viruses to other viruses known to infect humans according to the study, published in the peer-reviewed PLOS Biology. The model could have predicted SARS-CoV-2 as a high-risk coronavirus strain, said researchers. Analyses of the model show that there could be generalizable features of viral genomes that may make viruses preadapt to infect humans. These features are independent of the virus taxonomic relationships.