Biochemists at the University of Wisconsin–Madison are using AI to tackle one of modern medicine’s most pressing challenges: the rise of antibiotic-resistant bacterial infections. Using data collected in their lab, biochemistry professor Vatsan Raman and his team built an AI model to identify new possibilities for fighting bacteria with one of their natural enemies. Their findings, published in the journal Cell Systems, could help accelerate the development of alternatives to traditional antibiotic drugs.

For decades, antibiotics have been the frontline defense against bacterial illnesses such as strep throat and urinary tract infections. But bacteria evolve quickly, developing resistance to drugs faster than we can develop new treatments. The result is a slew of highly infectious diseases for which we have fewer effective treatments.