AI identifies new antibiotic that can kill drug-resistant bacteria

Researchers in the US have used artificial intelligence (AI) to discover a powerful new type of antibiotic capable of killing drug-resistant bacteria. Scientists at MIT trained a machine learning algorithm to analyse the molecular structures of chemical compounds and pick out potential antibiotics. The deep learning model was designed to identify compounds capable of killing bacteria using different mechanisms to those of existing drugs. After analysing some 2,500 different molecules, the AI system identified a new antibiotic compound which, in lab tests, killed many of the world's most problematic disease-causing bacteria, including drug-resistant strains. The new antibiotic compound has been dubbed halicin, named after the the rogue AI system, Hal 9000, from 1968 film 2001: A Space Odyssey.