Artificial intelligence can now design new antibiotics in a matter of days

Imagine you’re a scientist who needs to discover a new antibiotic to fight off a scary disease. How would you go about finding it?

Typically, you’d have to test lots and lots of different molecules in the lab until you find one that has the necessary bacteria-killing properties. You might find some contenders that are good at killing the bacteria only to realize that you can’t use them because they also prove toxic to humans. It’s a very long, very expensive, and probably very aggravating process.

But what if, instead, you could just type into your computer the properties you’re looking for and have your computer design the perfect molecule for you?