New AI technique can uncover antiviral compounds using limited data
AI algorithms, when combined with traditional laboratory methods, can uncover promising drug leads against human enterovirus 71.
1 min. read
Artificial intelligence algorithms have now been combined with traditional laboratory methods to uncover promising drug leads against human enterovirus 71 (EV71), the pathogen behind most cases of hand, foot, and mouth disease. The study, published on April 29 in Cell Reports Physical Science by researchers at the Perelman School of Medicine, showed that reliable antiviral predictions can be made even when only a modest amount of experimental data are available.
Using an initial panel of 36 small molecules, the investigators trained a machine learning model to spot certain shapes and chemical features that help stop viruses, scoring each compound’s likelihood of blocking EV71. The authors put their AI-chosen shortlist to the test: Out of eight compounds, five successfully slowed the virus in cell experiments—about 10 times more hits than traditional screening methods usually deliver.
Griffin Pitt, right, works with two other student researchers to test the conductivity, total dissolved solids, salinity, and temperature of water below a sand dam in Kenya.
Griffin Pitt’s upbringing made her passionate about water access and pollution, and Penn has given her the opportunity to explore these issues back home in North Carolina and abroad.
Helping robots work together to explore the Moon and Mars
Penn Engineers, NASA, and five other universities tested robotic systems designed to help unmanned explorers cooperate in the dunes of White Sands, New Mexico, paving the way for Moon and Mars exploration.
From framework to actions: Provost John L. Jackson Jr. talks Penn Forward
In a Q&A, Provost John L. Jackson Jr. explains the relationship between the strategic framework In Principle and Practice and Penn Forward—a new University-wide process and action plan that will advance Penn forward for the next decade and beyond.
