AI breakthrough creates new antibiotics for drug-resistant superbugs

A team of researchers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) has leveraged generative AI to design new antibiotic compounds capable of combating two notoriously drug-resistant infections: gonorrhoea and methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA).

According to MIT News, the researchers “designed more than 36 million possible compounds and computationally screened them for antimicrobial properties.”

The generative AI sifted through more than 36 million molecular compounds and pinpointed two new drugs, later tested in vitro and in animal models. These leading candidates are structurally distinct from existing antibiotics and appear to act via novel mechanisms that disrupt bacterial cell membranes.

The two compounds, designated as NG1 (targeting gonorrhoea) and DN1 (active against MRSA), demonstrated compelling efficacy. In lab and mouse studies, both drugs successfully cleared infections caused by their respective pathogens.

According to MIT News, the AI-generated antibiotics not only bypassed known chemical scaffolds but also showed novel mechanisms that could render them less susceptible to existing forms of resistance.

What makes this discovery significant is that both drugs work in new ways, the Independent said.

Most existing antibiotics use similar methods to destroy bacteria, enabling some strains to develop resistance over time. In contrast, these new compounds seem to target bacterial membranes through mechanisms not found in current drugs, raising hopes they may prove more difficult for bacteria to withstand.

Senior author Professor James Collins emphasised the transformative potential of AI in drug development. He said: “We’re excited about the new possibilities that this project opens up for antibiotics development. Our work shows the power of AI from a drug design standpoint, and enables us to exploit much larger chemical spaces that were previously inaccessible.”

Lead author Aarti Krishnan was clear about the team’s bold approach: “We wanted to get rid of anything that would look like an existing antibiotic, to help address the antimicrobial resistance crisis in a fundamentally different way.” She added: “By venturing into underexplored areas of chemical space, our goal was to uncover novel mechanisms of action.”