Artificial Intelligence: Vaccine Technology

Viscount Stansgate Excerpts

Thursday 9th July 2026 Lords Chamber

Asked by

[Viscount Stansgate]

To ask His Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the potential for artificial intelligence to contribute to developments in vaccine technology.

[The Minister of State, Department for Energy and Net Zero and Department for Science, Innovation and Technology (Lord Vallance of Balham) (Lab)]

The results from Cambridge and the DIOSynVax programme, primarily funded by the Government through Innovate UK, is a good example of how the Government are taking AI’s potential in vaccine technology seriously. AI’s most credible contribution to vaccine development is in the design stage, including predicting antigen structure and binding and predicting how pathogens evade immunity. Our £137 million AI for science strategy is funding some key enablers for AI use in drug discovery, including in medical research and engineering biology.

[Viscount Stansgate (Lab)]

My Lords, I thank my noble friend for that Answer. If the House does not realise, what has happened in Cambridge is the first use of AI to design a vaccine candidate being used in human trials, with the possibility of being able to deal with a broad range of viruses. One of the researchers involved said that it is

“amazing what we can do with it for the good of humanity”.

Unfortunately, this new technology may also, in turn, potentially pose a great threat to humanity. So I ask my noble friend: what work is going on to ensure that this type of development is subject to the strictest controls and that, in future, no bad actors can in any way use this new technology to pose a threat to humanity?

[Lord Vallance of Balham (Lab)]

I completely agree that this technology is hugely important for the good it can do in making vaccines and new medicines. It will change our ability to treat and prevent diseases. It is also true that the same technology can be used for bad things. Like many technologies, it can be misused. Many things are in place already: it is illegal, of course, to make chemical and biological weapons, and the Government take very seriously the threat that can come from new technologies. The biological security strategy was published last year. There is £580 million in the defence investment plan for Porton Down infrastructure for a national biosecurity centre, and £115 million to strengthen defences against AI risk. This is a very active area of work.