Using synthetic biology and AI to address global antimicrobial resistance threat
Driven by overuse and misuse of antibiotics, drug-resistant infections are on the rise, while development of new antibacterial tools has slowed.
3 Questions: Using AI to accelerate the discovery and design of therapeutic drugs
Professor James Collins discusses how collaboration has been central to his research into combining computational predictions with new experimental platforms.
A protein found in the GI tract can neutralize many bacteria
The protein, known as intelectin-2, also helps to strengthen the mucus barrier lining the digestive tract.
Darcy McRose and Mehtaab Sawhney ’20, PhD ’24 named 2025 Packard Fellows for Science and Engineering
McRose, an environmental microbiologist, is recognized for researching the ecological roles of antibiotics in shaping ecosystems, agriculture, and health.
AI maps how a new antibiotic targets gut bacteria
MIT CSAIL and McMaster researchers used a generative AI model to reveal how a narrow-spectrum antibiotic attacks disease-causing bacteria, speeding up a process that normally takes years.
Using generative AI, researchers design compounds that can kill drug-resistant bacteria
The team used two different AI approaches to design novel antibiotics, including one that showed promise against MRSA.
Protein study could help researchers develop new antibiotics
Researchers created a water-soluble version of an important bacterial enzyme, which can now be used in drug screens to identify new antibiotics.
Scientists identify mechanism behind drug resistance in malaria parasite
SMART researchers find a cellular process called transfer ribonucleic acid (tRNA) modification influences the malaria parasite’s ability to develop resistance.
When an antibiotic fails: MIT scientists are using AI to target “sleeper” bacteria
Most antibiotics target metabolically active bacteria, but with artificial intelligence, researchers can efficiently screen compounds that are lethal to dormant microbes.
Using AI, MIT researchers identify a new class of antibiotic candidates
These compounds can kill methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA), a bacterium that causes deadly infections.
Newly discovered bacterial communication system aids antimicrobial resistance
SMART researchers find the enzyme RlmN, which directly senses chemical and environmental stresses, can be targeted in drug development.
A novel combination therapy counters antibiotic-resistant Mycobacterium abscessus infections
SMART researchers combine rifaximin and clarithromycin to effectively restore the latter drug's efficacy.
Using AI, scientists find a drug that could combat drug-resistant infections
The machine-learning algorithm identified a compound that kills Acinetobacter baumannii, a bacterium that lurks in many hospital settings.
A novel combination therapy for treating vancomycin-resistant bacterial infections
Developed at SMART, the therapy stimulates the host immune system to more effectively clear bacterial infections and accelerate infected wound healing.
Christopher Walsh, influential chemical biologist and former department chair at MIT, dies at 79
Beloved professor and “titan of chemical biology” spent 15 years on the MIT faculty, leading the Department of Chemistry from 1982 to 1987.