rewrites.bio

A manifesto for AI-assisted modernisation of bioinformatics software

rewrites.bio is a manifesto for AI-assisted modernisation of bioinformatics software.

Bioinformatics datasets have grown faster than the tools that process them — the cost shows up in compute bills, carbon footprint, and time to results. AI coding assistants now make it practical for domain experts to reimplement foundational tools in days rather than years, but cheap code is not the same as correct code. AI-generated implementations can be fluent, fast, and confidently wrong in ways that are easy to miss.

The manifesto sets out a set of principles for doing this well: preserving the science and attribution of the original tools, validating numerical equivalence against the upstream implementations, pinning versions, engaging with original authors, and avoiding the fragmentation that comes from competing half-finished rewrites.

Projects that follow the principles can display a rewrites.bio badge to signal that they have been built with these values in mind. RustQC was the first project to adopt the manifesto.

For more information, read the full manifesto at rewrites.bio or browse the source on GitHub.