MIT Algorithm Discovered Several New Types of Antibiotics

In 2017, the World Health Organization (WHO) named Acinetobacter baumannii a bacterium representing

greatest threat to human health due to itsantibiotic resistance. The new antibiotics could also be targeted against tuberculosis and C. difficile, a bacterium that can attack the intestines and cause diarrhea, the Financial Times reported.

The algorithm that discovered the new antibiotic was taughtstructural analysis of more than 2,500 molecules to evaluate their antibacterial properties. The AI ​​then searched a library of 100 million molecules to predict their ability to fight specific pathogens.

See how molecules exist in deep-sea symbiosis!

The algorithm was developed by researcher Regina Barzilai of MIT, which specializes in in-depth applications for the study of chemistry and oncology.

“The question remains whethermachine learning tools are doing something useful in healthcare and how we can develop them to become workhorses in the pharmaceutical industry, ”said Barzilai. “Our study shows how this tool can be adapted.”

The launch of the instrument on the market will be “fraught with significant difficulties”, however, scientists note that the discovery of drugs is one of the most promising applications of AI.