2023-05-31 13:28:49
This drug helps to fight against the bacterium Acinetobacter baumannii, which is particularly resistant to current drugs.
Artificial intelligence to the rescue of antibiotic resistance? Researchers have discovered a new type of antibiotic capable of fighting bacteria that are currently resistant to drugs. As explained CNNit was tested with 41 different strains of Acinetobacter baumannii, which is a species of bacteria that can cause serious infections.
“The drug worked on all of them, though it needs to be further refined and tested in human clinical trials before it can be used in patients.“, summarizes CNN. These conclusions were published in the journal Nature Chemical Biology. Another good point, this antibiotic destroys only the problematic bacteria but without affecting the other species of bacteria present in the body.
“Acinetobacter can survive on doorknobs and hospital equipment for long periods of time, and it can pick up antibiotic resistance genes from its environment. It is now very common to find isolates of A. baumannii resistant to almost all antibiotics“, reports Jonathan Stokes, assistant professor of biochemistry and biomedical sciences at McMaster University, quoted by News Medical. The bacterium Actinetobacter baumanii is present in hospitals and other health care facilities, clinging to doorknobs, etc. For scientists, it is even a “occupational pathogen“.
6,000 molecules analyzed
“It’s incredibly promising. I think AI, as we’ve seen, can be successfully applied in many areas, and I think drug discovery is sort of the next frontier.“said Dr. Cesar de la Fuente, assistant professor at the Perlman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania, quoted by CNN.
The researchers computerized a lot of data in order to develop an artificial intelligence algorithm. They then screened the model through more than 6,000 molecules, a mission accomplished in a matter of hours. Then they tested 240 chemicals in the lab. With the results of these tests, they obtained nine antibiotics, including one very powerful. The latter – RS102895 – was initially known as a potential diabetes drug. So it worked perfectly against Actinetobacter baumanii but without impacting other bacteria.
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