00:00Artificial intelligence is helping scientists find new antibiotics, and that work just won a major prize.
00:06Two MIT researchers received the 2026 Pritzker Prize for AI in Science Research Excellence.
00:13The award honors their work using AI to discover drugs against resistant bacteria.
00:18In 2020, their team described halicin, the first antibiotic discovered by artificial intelligence.
00:25It's named after HAL 9000, the computer in the film 2001, a space odyssey.
00:31A deep learning model trained on 2,500 molecules flagged it.
00:35In tests, it killed antibiotic-resistant superbugs, including tuberculosis bacteria.
00:41A search that once took years was done in weeks.
00:44In 2023, the team used machine learning to find another antibiotic, called a bowson.
00:49It targets a single hospital superbug, which may help limit resistance.
00:53Now the researchers see AI shifting from a discovery tool to a design tool.
00:58That could speed up the next generation of life-saving drugs.
01:02Disclosure.
01:02This video contains stock footage and content created or enhanced using AI-assisted tools.
Comments