Researchers have discovered that artificial intelligence (AI) has discovered two new antibiotics that can kill treatment-resistant bacteria such as gonorrhea and MRSA (Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus).
These new drugs, created by a team at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), have been designed molecule by molecule by artificial intelligence.
Foreign media reports that the pathogenic bacteria have been successfully destroyed in laboratory and animal tests.
However, it is said that many more years of research and clinical trials will be needed before these new compounds can be recommended for clinical use.
With this discovery, the MIT team says that applying AI technology to the antibiotic discovery process could usher in a “second golden era.”
Previously, researchers used artificial intelligence only to identify suitable compounds for new antibiotics from among the thousands of existing chemical compounds.
But with this new discovery, it has been shown that artificial intelligence has the ability to create new compounds from scratch.
