AI Discovers New Antibiotic Class Against Superbugs

Researchers at MIT and the Broad Institute used a deep learning model in 2025 to screen over 100 million molecular compounds and identify a new class of antibiotics effective against drug-resistant Acinetobacter baumannii and MRSA. The discovery, published in Cell, marked the first truly new class of antibiotics in over three decades. With antimicrobial resistance killing an estimated 1.3 million people annually, the finding was considered one of the most clinically urgent scientific advances of the year.