Artificial Intelligence and the Discovery of Antibiotics: Reinventing with Opportunities, Challenges, and Clinical...

The outbreak and spreading of antimicrobial resistance (AMR) in a very short time has made most of the old-fashioned antibiotics ineffective, and thus new therapeutic substances have to be developed. The traditional methods of antibiotics discovery are defined by long periods of time, high levels of expenditure, and high rates of failure, which contributes to the necessity of new approaches. Artificial intelligence (AI) has become a disruptive technology that can be used to accelerate and optimize various steps of antibiotic discovery, such as target detection and virtual screening, new molecular design, and early-stage testing.

This review provides an in-depth discussion of the role of AI methodologies in the form of machine learning, deep learning, natural language processing, and generative models in the discovery of small-molecule antibiotics and antimicrobial peptides (AMPs). The major areas that are discussed include virtual screening, pharmacokinetics optimization, resistance mechanism prediction, and AMPs design, which is accompanied by relevant case studies, including the AI-based discovery of Abaucin.

The article highlights how AI can be used in a synergistic relationship with synthetic biology, nanotechnology, and multi-omics data as a core component in the next generation of antimicrobial approaches, such as personalized therapy and predictive stewardship. The existing issues, i.e., the lack of data, bias in algorithms, and the translational divide between research and clinical use, are addressed, as well as suggested measures of responsible, collaborative, and ethical AI use.

The combination of computational innovation with experimentation validation, AI-driven antibiotic discovery paves the way for a potent and scalable approach in addressing the rising threat of AMR.