These days, various bacteria have evolved antibiotic resistance. The pace is much faster than the development rate of new medications. The activity is possibly taking us towards a dangerous future where infections might be fatal than today. For the first time, American researchers have used AI to determine a powerful new antibiotic. This drug has the potential to destroy various drug-resistant viruses. The newly-found antibiotic – halicin, has revealed positive effects during mouse trials. It has wiped infections of most bacteria who had had resistance against various antibiotics.
Since the innovation of penicillin, antibiotics have played a crucial role in modern medicine. But in recent years, the effectiveness of antibiotics has seriously lessened because of drug overuse. The researchers at Harvard and MIT have trained a computer program to assess chemical elements having the potential of fighting against infections using various mechanisms than those current medicines. The team has published its findings on Thursday in the journal Cell. Prof. James Collins is a senior author of the study. Collins said their approach has had shown this incredible module. As per Collins, their discovery remains debatably one of the stronger antibiotics that have been found.
The researchers have trained the prototype on around 2,500 molecules, recognizing the so-called halicin for real-life testing on strains of virus collected from patients and grown in laboratories. The team claims the antibiotic has managed to kill many treatment-resistant bacteria, including Mycobacterium tuberculosis, Acinetobacter baumannii, and Clostridium difficile. Collins added they intended to create a platform that would enable them to use the power of AI to introduce a new era of antibiotic drug invention. Halicin, the drug formerly-assessed as a probable diabetes remedy, now has a fresh life as a most potent antibiotic agent.
In laboratory trials, the molecule has destroyed almost every strain of bacteria. Meanwhile, only one virus, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, which infects respiratory and urinary tracks, has revealed resistance against halicin. The team has experimented with the drug in mice having a virus of A. baumannii. It is a virus which has resistance against all identified kinds of antibiotics. The application of a halicin-containing gel has completely cleared infections within a day. Also, the researchers have discovered that the medicine functions by distracting the bacteria’s potential to preserve an electrochemical ascent on their external membranes. It mainly affects the way viruses store energy, rapidly kills them. In the end, the team aims to concentrate on the development of halicin for ultimate human use.
