AI creates killer proteins against superbugs like E. coli

Artificial intelligence has just created a protein capable of eliminating antibiotic-resistant E. coli —a discovery that would normally have taken years of work.

Previously, to develop therapeutic proteins , researchers had to start with existing proteins in nature and modify them piece by piece. This work could take decades, often with disappointing results. AI is overturning this approach, designing proteins from scratch, tailored to their intended purpose.

Goodbye, superbugs, AI creates lethal proteins

For the first time in Australia, a group of researchers from the University of Melbourne and Monash University have successfully engineered AI- powered biological proteins ready for clinical use. These proteins are not modified from existing proteins, but created from scratch.

"We want these tools to be accessible to all researchers around the world ," says Fox. A vision that breaks with the past, when these technologies were reserved only for the richest and most well-equipped laboratories.

This achievement brings Australia into the elite group of countries with AI platforms capable of producing thousands of functional proteins . Joining the United States and China, Australia now has its own AI Protein Design Platform, led by Dr. Rhys Grinter and Professor Gavin Knott.

Their work builds on the research of David Baker, who last year won the Nobel Prize in Chemistry for these very studies. "We can design proteins for any specific target ," the researchers explain, from cancer therapies to vaccines, from nanotechnological materials to biological sensors.

Software available to everyone

The Australian platform uses programs like Bindcraft and Chai, developed in Baker's footsteps. The most interesting aspect is that they are freely accessible to researchers around the world. And this is already dramatically accelerating the development of new drugs and diagnostic tools. Isomorphic Labs , founded by Demis Hassabis and backed by Google, is also ready to test AI-created drugs on the first humans .

Antibiotic-resistant superbugs have become a global health emergency, and with artificial intelligence, their days are numbered.