Posted 4/8/2024, 6:00:00 PM
AI Helps Find New Use for Old Drug Against Antibiotic-Resistant Bacteria
- Antibiotic resistance is a growing global health threat, partly due to bacteria becoming dormant and avoiding detection.
- MIT researchers used AI to discover semapimod as a compound that targets dormant bacteria.
- Semapimod was originally an anti-inflammatory drug used for Crohn's disease.
- It disrupts bacterial membranes, making resistant Gram-negative bacteria vulnerable again.
- New approaches are badly needed for Gram-negative infections like E. coli and Acinetobacter.