🔍 AI Finds Five Antibodies That Protect Mice From Lethal Flu

Chinese researchers have developed ImmuneAgent, an AI system designed to find antibodies that can neutralize multiple viral strains.

Finding broadly effective antibodies can require months of laboratory screening. Instead, ImmuneAgent searches genetic sequences from human B cells, the immune cells that produce antibodies, and identifies promising candidates for researchers to test.

💡 The researchers first analyzed about 12,000 B cells from eight people vaccinated against COVID-19. ImmuneAgent selected 60 antibody candidates. Of those, 39 bound to the coronavirus spike protein, and six neutralized multiple variants, including XBB.1.5, known as "Kraken," and JN.1—even though the donors had never been infected with those variants.

The team then applied the same approach to a public dataset from 12 people vaccinated against influenza. ImmuneAgent selected 50 antibody candidates. Twenty neutralized seasonal H1N1, while six also neutrali…

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