In a first, US researchers have used artificial intelligence to identify a powerful new antibiotic capable of killing several drug-resistant bacteria. Antibiotics have been a cornerstone of modern medicine since the discovery of penicillin, but their effectiveness has seriously diminished in recent years as overuse has led to bacteria becoming resistant.

The scientists at MIT and Harvard trained a machine learning algorithm to analyze chemical compounds capable of fighting infections using different mechanisms than those of existing drugs. "Our approach revealed this amazing molecule which is arguably one of the more powerful antibiotics that has been discovered," said James Collins, a professor of medical engineering at MIT and one of the paper's senior authors. The team trained the model on about 2,500 molecules, identifying a compound they called "halicin" - after the fictional artificial intelligence system from "2001: A Space Odyssey" - for real world testing on strains of bacteria taken from patients and grown in lab dishes.