Of 285 designs tested, 16 produced working viruses capable of replicating and attacking E. coli. Combining some of the new phages also allowed researchers to target bacteria that had developed resistance to the original phages.
According to Professor Ran Nir-Paz, an infectious disease specialist at Hadassah Medical Center and leader of the Israel Phage Therapy Center, one of the most important potential applications of the technology is treating drug-resistant bacterial infections. Phages can selectively kill bacteria and are being studied as a potential alternative or complement to antibiotics as antimicrobial resistance becomes a growing global health challenge.
AI could also help scientists explore poorly understood areas of biology. The functions of around 60% of genes and proteins in bacteriophage genomes remain unclear.
