💊 MIT researchers use AI to fight drug-resistant bacteria

Scientists at MIT are turning to generative AI to outsmart one of the greatest medical threats of our time — antibiotic resistance.

🔬 Instead of searching traditional chemical libraries, the team generated over 36 million hypothetical molecules and screened them using graph neural networks, which analyze atoms and bonds as interconnected graphs.

⚡ Key results:
• 24 molecules were selected and synthesized
• 7 showed strong antibacterial activity
• 2 proved so effective they cured infected mice

🧪 The top candidates are NG1 and DN1:
• DN1 successfully eliminated MRSA skin infections in mice
• NG1 wiped out drug-resistant gonorrhea

💡 What makes this breakthrough unique is how AI opens entirely new “chemical space,” beyond the reach of existing catalogs — giving scientists a way to discover novel compounds faster and more cost-effectively.

MIT researchers believe this approach could spark a “second golden age of antibiotics.”

📌 Read more: MIT News

@Science #AI #Biotech #Antibiotics #DrugResistance