Scientists have discovered a new antibiotic using artificial intelligence. In a world first, a research team based at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), has used AI to unveil a new type of antibiotic.
\nAs drug resistance becomes an increasingly worrying problem for medical teams and public health experts, the recent development has been hailed as a \u2018major breakthrough,\u2019 which could have a significant impact in the future.
\nUsing a potent algorithm to analyse millions of chemical compounds, the team discovered a new compound capable of destroying 35 different types of harmful bacteria. The number of antibiotic-resistant infections increased by 9% in England between 2017 and 2018.
\nRegina Barzilay, senior researcher at MIT, confirmed that this was a first \u201cin terms of antibiotic discovery.\u201d The algorithm used was based on the human brain. The research team trained the algorithm to analyse the structure of more than 2,000 drugs in a bid to find those with properties that could destroy E. coli. The team then chose 100 candidates and carried out physical tests, discovering halicin in the process. The new antibiotic has been described as \u201cone of the most powerful antibiotics that has been discovered to date\u201d by MIT bioengineer, James Collins.
\nThe aim for the team was to utilise AI to create a platform that would enable them to bring about a \u201cnew age of antibiotic drug discovery.\u201d
\nDr Peter Bannister, chair of the Institute of Engineering and Technology\u2019s medical panel, said that the method was already employed in other areas of healthcare, including the development of new therapeutics. The new antibiotic could pave the way for similar breakthroughs using \u2018deep learning\u2019 to solve problems facing healthcare teams.
\nNews of the antibiotic comes shortly after an international team of researchers used algorithms to read mammograms, outperforming a group of radiologists.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Scientists have discovered a new antibiotic using artificial intelligence. In a world first, a research team based at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), has used AI to unveil a new type of antibiotic. As drug resistance becomes an increasingly worrying problem for medical teams and public health experts, the recent development has been hailed […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":888008809,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3028],"tags":[3030,2657,3029,3031,3033,3035,3034,3032],"class_list":["post-4549","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-new-discovery","tag-ai","tag-antibiotics","tag-artificial-intelligence","tag-drug-resistance","tag-halicin","tag-james-collins","tag-mit","tag-regina-barzilay"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t