AI invents antibiotics for drug-resistant gonorrhoea and MRSA

The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) researchers have used artificial intelligence (AI) to design two new potential antibiotics that could kill drug-resistant gonorrhoea (N. gonorrhoeae) and Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA).

The antibiotics, which were designed atom-by-atom, are structurally distinct from any existing antibiotics and managed to destroy the superbugs in laboratory and animal tests, according to The BBC.

MIT said that this approach allowed the researchers to generate and evaluate theoretical compounds that have never been seen before.

However, it will still take years of refinement and clinical trials before the drugs hit the market.

“We’re excited about the new possibilities that this project opens up for antibiotics development. Our work shows the power of AI from a drug design standpoint, and enables us to exploit much larger chemical spaces that were previously inaccessible,” said James Collins, the Termeer Professor of Medical Engineering and Science in MIT’s Institute for Medical Engineering and Science (IMES) and Department of Biological Engineering.

The scientists said that the approach could start a "second golden age" in antibiotic discovery and could one day be used to combat cancer.

In February, AI was praised for a two-day scientific breakthrough on why some superbugs are immune to antibiotics. It offered four possible explanations, all of which seemed potentially valid to researchers.

AI can be exceptionally valuable in fighting against superbugs, but it poses potential problems, such as lab validation, unknown biases, and the reluctance of big pharma due to the low profitability of developing new antibiotics.

And yet, going forward, it seems like AI will offer plenty of opportunities by being able to produce antibiotics much faster than human scientists. It could also be able to analyze one’s genetic makeup and offer proactive treatment solutions, potentially saving hundreds of thousands of lives.