WASHINGTON, Feb 22, 2020 (BSS/AFP) – In a first, US researchers have used
artificial intelligence to identify a powerful new antibiotic capable of
killing several drug-resistant bacteria.
Antibiotics have been a cornerstone of modern medicine since the discovery
of penicillin, but their effectiveness has seriously diminished in recent
years as overuse has led to bacteria becoming resistant.
The scientists at MIT and Harvard trained a machine learning algorithm to
analyze chemical compounds capable of fighting infections using different
mechanisms than those of existing drugs. Their findings were published in the
journal Cell on Thursday.
“Our approach revealed this amazing molecule which is arguably one of the
more powerful antibiotics that has been discovered,” said James Collins, a
professor of medical engineering at MIT and one of the paper’s senior
authors.
The team trained the model on about 2,500 molecules, identifying a compound
they called “halicin” — after the fictional artificial intelligence system
from “2001: A Space Odyssey” — for real world testing on strains of bacteria
taken from patients and grown in lab dishes.
It was able to kill many bacteria that are resistant to treatment,
including Clostridium difficile, Acinetobacter baumannii, and Mycobacterium
tuberculosis.
It also cured two mice with A. baumannii, which has infected many US
soldiers in Iraq and Afghanistan.
The strain of the infection in the mice was resistant to all known
antibiotics, but a halicin ointment completely cured the mice within 24
hours.
The idea of using predictive computer models for discovery of drugs is not
new, but had never been successful until now.
“The machine learning model can explore… large chemical spaces that can
be prohibitively expensive for traditional experimental approaches,” said
Regina Barzilay, a professor of computer science at MIT.
The development raises hope for the future of antibiotics, and comes at a
critical time: It is predicted that without immediate action to discover and
develop new drugs, deaths attributable to resistant infections will reach 10
million a year by 2050.
The researchers plan to study halicin further and work with a
pharmaceutical company or nonprofit to develop it for use in humans.