{"data":{"event":{"id":"944fbed9-d359-4bad-ae0a-b52ce6709350","slug":"esm3-esmgfp-fluorescent-protein","title":"ESM3 generates esmGFP, a distant functional fluorescent protein","short_summary":"EvolutionaryScale’s ESM3 language model produced esmGFP, a fluorescent protein about 58 percent identical to known GFPs, described in a 2024 preprint and a 2025 Science paper.","full_description":"ESM3 is a multimodal generative model over protein sequence, structure, and function. Iterative prompting and wet-lab screening yielded esmGFP, which the authors compared to hundreds of millions of years of natural GFP divergence. Experimental fluorescence was confirmed; maturation was slower than many natural GFPs. The “500 million years” phrasing is an interpretive evolutionary-distance analogy, not a literal simulation of history.","ledger_type":"benefit","primary_domain_id":"8f1af1b9-7302-4b51-aae9-fdfac04d158a","event_status":"verified","event_date":"2025-01-16T00:00:00.000Z","discovery_date":"2025-01-16T00:00:00.000Z","first_published_date":"2025-01-16T00:00:00.000Z","last_reviewed_date":"2025-01-16T00:00:00.000Z","geographic_scope":"Global protein-engineering research","affected_population":"Protein designers and cell-biology tool developers","base_impact_tier":3,"base_score":"10.00","attribution_multiplier":"0.8500","evidence_multiplier":"0.7000","realization_multiplier":"0.5500","durability_multiplier":"0.7000","current_event_score":"2.061700","confidence_level":"high","score_explanation":"Experimentally functional de novo-distant GFP is a major protein-design result (tier 3). High attribution. Science peer review. Realization is a characterized protein, not a therapeutic. Sequence and method are durable knowledge.","methodology_version_id":"d7881163-fb23-4e71-8625-bac1a8662c0f","original_methodology_version_id":"d7881163-fb23-4e71-8625-bac1a8662c0f","published_at":"2025-01-16T00:00:00.000Z","created_at":"2026-09-13T20:47:20.075Z","updated_at":"2026-09-13T20:47:20.075Z","flags":[],"domain_name":"Biology","domain_slug":"biology","methodology_version":"0.1"},"contributions":[{"id":"1e28d667-fd3c-45c6-8778-52cbb3c371c5","event_id":"944fbed9-d359-4bad-ae0a-b52ce6709350","model_id":"2ca5f869-4932-4a9c-a9f9-6a170ea26a2e","role_description":"Generated candidate fluorescent-protein sequences that were expressed and assayed.","attribution_multiplier":"0.8500","credit_share":"0.9000","contribution_score":"2.061700","attribution_rationale":"Model proposed sequences; humans selected, synthesized, and assayed.","attribution_confidence":"medium","first_used_date":"2024-06-25T00:00:00.000Z","model_version_if_known":null,"review_status":"approved","created_at":"2026-09-13T20:47:20.075Z","model_slug":"esm3","model_name":"ESM3","identity_class":"named_release","is_internal":false,"family_name":"ESM","family_slug":"evolutionaryscale-esm","organization_name":"EvolutionaryScale","organization_slug":"evolutionaryscale"}],"sources":[{"id":"ce290b58-bb07-4561-b28c-8bde8217f40e","event_id":"944fbed9-d359-4bad-ae0a-b52ce6709350","url":"https://www.evolutionaryscale.ai/blog/esm3-release","canonical_url":"https://www.evolutionaryscale.ai/blog/esm3-release","source_type":"developer_announcement","publisher":"EvolutionaryScale","author":null,"publication_date":"2024-06-25T00:00:00.000Z","retrieved_at":"2026-09-13T20:47:20.075Z","title":"ESM3: Simulating 500 million years of evolution with a language model","excerpt":null,"content_hash":null,"source_reliability_class":"low","is_primary_source":true,"is_independent":false,"is_peer_reviewed":false,"archived_url":null,"created_at":"2026-09-13T20:47:20.075Z"},{"id":"3dd986ab-d662-4b84-beb9-0ad43ed3d35f","event_id":"944fbed9-d359-4bad-ae0a-b52ce6709350","url":"https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.ads0018","canonical_url":"https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.ads0018","source_type":"peer_reviewed","publisher":"Science","author":null,"publication_date":"2025-01-16T00:00:00.000Z","retrieved_at":"2026-09-13T20:47:20.075Z","title":"Simulating 500 million years of evolution with a language model","excerpt":null,"content_hash":null,"source_reliability_class":"high","is_primary_source":true,"is_independent":true,"is_peer_reviewed":true,"archived_url":null,"created_at":"2026-09-13T20:47:20.075Z"}],"claims":[{"id":"679fb5f1-b2bf-4b4b-94f2-e8c64391c3f6","event_id":"944fbed9-d359-4bad-ae0a-b52ce6709350","claim_text":"ESM3-designed esmGFP fluoresced and is about 58 percent identical to the nearest known fluorescent protein.","claim_type":"outcome","claim_status":"supported","confidence_score":null,"created_at":"2026-09-13T20:47:20.075Z","updated_at":"2026-09-13T20:47:20.075Z"},{"id":"1c813605-d5e9-4c18-b8ed-ff42e98d4675","event_id":"944fbed9-d359-4bad-ae0a-b52ce6709350","claim_text":"ESM3 literally simulated 500 million years of natural evolution.","claim_type":"significance","claim_status":"disputed","confidence_score":null,"created_at":"2026-09-13T20:47:20.075Z","updated_at":"2026-09-13T20:47:20.075Z"}],"revisions":[{"id":"821cd632-3f1d-4bcd-8b81-1aeed4351614","event_id":"944fbed9-d359-4bad-ae0a-b52ce6709350","model_id":null,"previous_score":"0.000000","new_score":"2.061700","previous_factors":{},"new_factors":{"evidence":0.7,"base_score":10,"durability":0.7,"attribution":0.85,"realization":0.55},"change_reason":"Initial adjudicated seed score under methodology 0.1.","trigger_type":"seed","trigger_source_ids":null,"reviewer_id":null,"review_status":"published","created_at":"2026-09-13T20:47:20.075Z"}],"secondary":[{"name":"Chemistry","slug":"chemistry"}]},"methodology_version":"0.1"}