New research uses AI to find nearly 1 million potential antibiotic molecules, speeding up medical discovery and tackling antibiotic resistance, according to TheGuardian.
In a study published in the journal Cell, scientists from the University of Pennsylvania used machine learning algorithms to analyze vast amounts of data on Earth's microbial biodiversity. As a result, they discovered nearly 1 million potential new molecules capable of acting as antibiotics. This is a significant step forward in using artificial intelligence to tackle the growing problem of drug resistance.
Professor César de la Fuente from the University of Pennsylvania, co-author of the study, said: “Using this algorithm, we can sift through huge amounts of information and speed up the search process.” Without algorithms, finding these molecules would take many years through traditional methods such as collecting water and soil samples.
Antibiotic resistance caused more than 1.2 million deaths in 2019, and this number could increase to 10 million per year by 2050, according to the World Health Organization (WHO). This research, considered "the largest antibiotic discovery effort ever", is an important turning point in using AI to find new antibiotics, helping to deal with the growing problem of antibiotic resistance. increase.
By collecting the genomes and meta-genomes of millions of microorganisms from public databases and using algorithms to search for DNA segments capable of creating antibacterial molecules, in 100 molecules Synthesized and tested in the laboratory, researchers found that 79% of them could kill at least one type of microorganism, opening up great potential for developing new antibiotics.
AI has greatly accelerated antibiotic discovery, according to de la Fuente. “Instead of having to wait five or six years to select, now, on computers, we can produce hundreds of thousands of results in just a few hours.”
The study authors have made their source code and data public so the scientific community can access and use it to speed up research and development of new antibiotics.
This is a new hope in the fight against the scourge of antibiotic resistance, a growing threat to global public health.
