AI Helps Find New Antibiotic to Combat Drug-Resistant Infections
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Antimicrobial resistance is a growing global health threat, with recurring infections due to bacteria becoming dormant and resistant to traditional antibiotics.
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Researchers used AI and machine learning to quickly identify the drug semapimod as having antibiotic properties, including against dormant bacteria.
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Semapimod disrupts the protective membranes of challenging "gram-negative" bacteria, making them susceptible to other antibiotics.
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Finding new antibiotics for gram-negative infections is extremely difficult.
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Using AI sped up the screening of millions of potential antibiotic compounds from years to just a weekend.