Artificial intelligence has invented groundbreaking antibiotics that could help to cure millions of people from a disease.
This could end up being life-saving for a lot of people around the world after researchers revealed that AI has invented two new antibiotics.
These antibiotics are designed atom-by-atom to kill off drug-resistant gonorrhea and MRSA, and were successful in killing the bugs during tests.
In order to achieve this, the AI was trained by scientists where it was given the chemical structure of known compounds and data on the different species of bacteria.
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From there, the AI was able to unpick how bacteria is impacted by various molecular structures.
A team of researchers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) have said that this could mark the beginning of a ‘second golden age’ in antibiotic discovery.
Antibiotic-resistant infections are responsible for over a million deaths each year, so this new treatment could be life-saving.
Speaking to the BBC, Professor James Collins from MIT said: “We’re excited because we show that generative AI can be used to design completely new antibiotics.
“AI can enable us to come up with molecules, cheaply and quickly and in this way, expand our arsenal, and really give us a leg up in the battle of our wits against the genes of superbugs.”
Dr Andrew Edwards, who is from the Fleming Initiative and Imperial College London, added that the research is significant because it ‘demonstrates a novel approach to identifying new antibiotics’.
However, it’s not all plain sailing, as he pointed out: “While AI promises to dramatically improve drug discovery and development, we still need to do the hard yards when it comes to testing safety and efficacy.”
While there is still a long way to go and there are years ahead needed to study the antibiotics before it will be prescribed to patients, it looks like this could completely change the medicine game.
However, concerns about this new frontier have been raised by other experts.
Professor Chris Dowson, who is from the University of Warwick, admitted that the new study is ‘cool’ and that it demonstrated how AI was a ‘significant step forward as a tool for antibiotic discovery to mitigate against the emergence of resistance’.
But he did point out that there could be an economic problem that may arise from it, asking: “How do you make drugs that have no commercial value?”
Maybe AI will have the answer to that!