Artificial intelligence creates antibiotics for gonorrhea and Staphylococcus aureus from scratch

Researchers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) have reported that artificial intelligence has developed two new potential antibiotics that can kill drug-resistant bacteria, including gonorrhea and MRSA (methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus). About writes BBC.

The drugs were developed "atom by atom" using generative AI, and then successfully tested on bacteria in the laboratory and on infected animals.

Scientists emphasize that these drugs still need years of refinement and clinical trials before they can be prescribed to patients.

Antibiotics save lives, but due to their overuse, more and more bacteria are becoming resistant to treatment. According to researchers, untreated infections cause more than a million deaths every year.

The MIT team went further than previous research: if earlier AI analyzed already known chemical compounds in search of potential drugs, now it created new ones from scratch.

The algorithm studied the chemical structure of known antibiotics and their effects on different bacteria, and then generated millions of new variants, eliminating toxic ones or those that were too similar to existing drugs.

Two of the most promising samples were synthesized and tested, showing effectiveness in the fight against gonorrhea and MRSA.

Despite the breakthrough, scientists warn that the process of turning these compounds into affordable medicines for patients is long and expensive, and there is no guarantee that they will eventually reach the market.

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