A New Antibiotic Using Deep-Learning AI Shows Promise.
MEDICAL NEWS
In an article published May 2023, researchers used deep-learning techniques to create a new antibiotic. Deep-learning is an artificial intelligence (AI) that uses neural networks to try to duplicate the complexity of the human brain.
Acinetobacter baumannii is a bacterial pathogen that is multidrug resistant due to a strong outer membrane and its ability to acquire DNA that can encode antibiotic resistance genes. Discovering new antibiotics against A. baumannii has been challenging. Machine learning allows the rapid exploration of various drugs or molecules that may inhibit bacteria. In a very complex method of deep-learning, the authors screened 7,500 molecules for inhibition of A. baumannii. The AI looked at these molecules and then was asked to create new molecules which could inhibit A. baumannii. The result was called abaucin a new antibiotic with anti-A. baumannii activity.
They then tested abaucin against 41 different strains of A. baumannii and it overcame all resistance mechanisms in each of them. They further tested abaucin against some other bacteria and found they were not inhibited, indicating the abaucin had narrow-spectrum of anti-bacterial activity and was not broad-spectrum, which is what they were looking for. Its mode of action was interfering with lipoprotein transport in A. baumannii bacteria. It was reported that the compound was then tested in mice with induced A. baumannii infections and topical abaucin suppressed A. baumannii infections, compared to a control group.
Is AI Ushering in a New Golden Age of Medicine?
We seem to be at the threshold of a golden age in medicine, with the introduction of AI, as in this case, and also with new gene therapies. These technologies may allow treatment improvements or cures for diseases that are currently either difficult to treat or untreatable. In this study, by the use of AI techniques, an entirely new antibiotic was synthesized that may help treat A. baumannii infections in the future.
If you are interested in learning more about the use of CRISPR and its use in gene therapy, click on this link: https://www.fibonaccimd.com/post/crispr-cme
Reference
Liu G et al. Deep learning-guided discovery of an antibiotic targeting Acinetobacter baumannii. Nature Chemical Biology. Volume 19, 1342–1350. November 2023. Retrieved from: https://people.csail.mit.edu/tommi/papers/s41589-023-01349-8.pdf
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