Scientists have succeeded in developing a new antibiotic with the help of artificial intelligence (AI) that can kill a deadly variant of a superbug, the British channel BBC reports.
Thanks to the AI, thousands of potential chemicals were reduced to a handful, which were tested in a lab. The result is an experimental antibiotic, which was named abaucin. However, further testing is needed before it can be used as a medicine, possibly not until 2030.
The research was conducted in Canada and the US. It is further proof that artificial intelligence can revolutionize the discovery of new drugs, it says. The results of the research were published in the international journal ‘Nature Chemical Biology’.
Antibiotics kill bacteria, but recently more and more bacteria have become resistant to existing medicines. That way they are potentially deadly. More than a million people die each year as a result of this resistance.
The Canadian and American scientists’ research focused on one of the most problematic bacteria: Acinetobacter baumannii, which can infect wounds and cause pneumonia. It is one of three described by the World Health Organization as “superbugs” and poses a critical threat, particularly in hospitals or care homes. After all, the bacteria survives on surfaces.
Dr. Jonathan Stokes, of McMaster University, describes the bacteria as “public enemy number one”.
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2023-05-26 05:35:46
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