In an effort to better understand how protein language models (PLMs) think and better judge their reliability, MIT researchers applied a tool called sparse autoencoders, which can be used to make large language models more interpretable. The findings “may help scientists better understand how PLMs come to certain conclusions and increase researchers’ trust in them," writes Andrea Luis for The Scientist.
Prof. Pierre Azoulay speaks with WBUR’s Martha Bebinger about a new study examining the potential impact of NIH budget cuts on the development of new medicines. Azoulay and his colleagues found that “more than half of drugs approved by the FDA since 2000 used NIH-funded research that would likely not have happened if the NIH had operated with a 40% smaller budget,” Bebinger explains.
Fierce Biotech reporter Darren Incorvaia writes that a new study by MIT researchers demonstrates how potential NIH budget cuts could endanger the development of new medications. The researchers found that if the NIH budget had been 40% smaller from 1980 to 2007, the level of NIH cuts currently being proposed, “the science underlying numerous drugs approved in the 21st century would not have been funded,” Incorvaia explains. The findings suggest that “massive cuts of the kind that are being contemplated right now could endanger the intellectual foundations of the drugs of tomorrow,” explains Professor Pierre Azoulay.
A new study co-authored by MIT researchers finds that more than half of the drugs approved by the FDA since 2000 are connected to NIH research that would be impacted by proposed 40 percent budget cuts, reports Genetic Engineering & Biotechnology News.
Using AI, researchers at MIT have developed new antibiotics for gonorrhoea and MRSA, two infections that are typically hard to treat. The team “trained the AI to help it learn how bacteria was affected by different molecular structures built of atoms in order to design new antibiotics,” writes Ruth Stainer for the Daily Mail. “[A]nything too similar to the current antibiotics available, or with the potential to be toxic to human beings, was eradicated.”
Researchers at MIT used AI to “design antibiotics that can tackle hard-to-treat infections gonorrhoea and MRSA,” reports ITV News. "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,” says Prof. James Collins.
Using generative AI, researchers at MT have designed new antibiotics to combat MRSA and gonorrhea, reports James Gallagher for the BBC. "We're excited because we show that generative AI can be used to design completely new antibiotics," says Prof. James Collins. "AI can enable us to come up with molecules, cheaply and quickly and in this way, expand our arsenal, and really give us a leg up in the battle of our wits against the genes of superbugs."
A new study by MIT researchers has “identified the parts of the brain’s visual cortex that respond more when we look at things (rigid objects like a stone skipping or a bouncing ball) vs stuff (liquids or something more granular like sand). Understanding this distinction may help our brains better plan how to interact with various materials,” explains Lauren Baisas for Popular Science. “Understanding this distinction may help our brains better plan how to interact with various materials,” explains Baisas.
Researchers at MIT have designed an implantable device that can be used to administer a dose of glucagon to protect Type 1 diabetics from hypoglycemia, reports Amir Khollam. “The device, about the size of a quarter, sits under the skin and releases a dose of glucagon when blood sugar levels dip too low,” explains Khollam. “It can be activated manually or triggered wirelessly by a sensor.”
Researchers at MIT have developed a new HIV vaccine that could offer “strong protection with just one injection,” reports Ian Randall for Newsweek. “The vaccine includes two ‘adjuvants’—materials that help stimulate the immune system response,” explains Randall. “In the experiments, the dual-adjuvant vaccine was found to produce a wider diversity of antibodies to protect against an HIV protein than with either single adjuvant or none at all.”
Researchers from MIT and other institutions have uncovered new pathways, along with identifying genes, that may contribute to the development of a new class of drugs to treat Alzheimer’s disease, reports John R. Ellement for The Boston Globe. “The drugs currently approved to treat Alzheimer’s have not been as successful as hoped,” Ellement explains. “Those drugs tend to target amyloid plaques in the brain, but the new research suggests other areas to target.”
Researchers from MIT and Harvard Medical School produced two new papers about the impact of a specific cytokine, or immune molecule, known as IL-17, on the brain when you’re sick. “Cytokines are well-known players in the immune response, helping to control inflammation and coordinate the responses of other immune cells,” reports Genetic Engineering & Biotechnology News. “A growing body of evidence suggests that some cytokines also influence the brain, leading to behavioral changes during illness.”
A team of researchers from MIT and Harvard Medical School are “deciphering the action of small immune system proteins in the brain and showing how, by exciting or inhibiting populations of neurons, they modulate anxiety and social behaviors,” writes Soline Roy of Le Figaro.
Researchers from MIT have “identified genes that the tuberculous bacteria rely on to survive and spread,” reports Allison DeAngelis for STAT. “Until now, very little was known about how tuberculous bacteria survived temperature changes, oxygen levels, humidity, and other environmental factors during the journey from one person’s lungs to another’s,” explains DeAngelis.
Writing for The Boston Globe, Prof. Pierre Azoulay and Prof. Jeffrey Flier of Harvard Medical School make the case that any reforms at the NIH “should be grounded in evidence rather than tradition, avoiding the influence of special interests or political considerations.” They add that this approach “is an acknowledgement of NIH’s accomplishments and a charge to adapt it to the new realities of 21st-century science. The overarching goal must be to secure and enhance the decades-long role of the United States at the forefront of biomedical research, an outcome that the public both wants and deserves.”