New Powerful Antibiotic Drug Would Not Have Been Found Without Artificial Intelligence

Using a machine-learning algorithm, MIT researchers have identified a powerful new antibiotic drug called Halicin, which is able to prevent the development of many types of bacteria that are resistant to treatment, including E. coli.

The artificial intelligence model went through 1.5 billion chemical compounds within just three days, to identify candidates that are different from existing antibiotics. After undergoing lab tests, Halicin has been able to kill many of the world’s most worrying bacteria, including some that are resistant to all known antibiotics.

“We wanted to develop a platform that would allow us to harness the power of artificial intelligence to usher in a new age of antibiotic drug discovery,” says James Collins, senior author of the study. “Our approach revealed this amazing molecule which is arguably one of the more powerful antibiotics that has been discovered.”

The researchers say the machine-learning algorithm could potentially also be used to design more new bacteria-killing drugs, based on its deep-learning skills and the information it’s gathered on existing compounds.