AI tuned a virus to infect bacteria a million times more effectively.
Biochemists in Wisconsin trained a model on phages, the viruses that hunt and kill bacteria. The model picked mutations, and the edited phages infected their targets up to a million times better. The team published in Cell Systems on Thursday and is now aiming at urinary infections and salmonella.
Why it mattersAntibiotics are losing to resistant bacteria, and phage therapy is one of the few alternatives left. Designing a phage instead of hunting for the right one changes how fast treatment arrives.
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