A California-based startup says a patient with an antibiotic-resistant infection has received a treatment containing viruses designed by artificial intelligence (AI), in what it describes as a world first.
However, the company has not disclosed whether the patient recovered, and its claims have not been verified in a peer-reviewed study.
Earlier AI experiments raise safety concerns
The treatment involves bacteriophages, commonly called phages, which are viruses that infect and kill bacteria without targeting human cells. Researchers generally have to search collections of naturally occurring viruses to identify one capable of attacking a patient’s infection. The experimental treatment was subsequently administered under an authorised, doctor-led compassionate-use programme, which allows patients with serious conditions to access investigational therapies when satisfactory alternatives are unavailable. The startup has withheld details about the patient’s condition and treatment outcome, citing privacy concerns. Those experiments were conducted in laboratories, not on human patients.
The development follows research announced in August by Stanford University and the Arc Institute, whose scientists used an AI system called Evo 2 to design previously unseen bacteria-killing viruses. Of nearly 300 viral genomes synthesised and tested, 16 produced functional bacteriophages capable of attacking E. coli bacteria. Because a virus effective against one bacterial strain may not work against another, finding a suitable phage can be challenging.
Doctors have previously used naturally occurring phages as experimental treatments for difficult bacterial infections.
