A group of scientists just resurrected extinct molecules from Neanderthals using AI. Yeah. It's called "molecular de-extinction" and it's all very Jurassic Park. My question was: Why?? Here's the answer... 

If you'd like to learn more, check out the scientific article by searching this number: doi.org/10.1016/j.chom.2023.07.001
"Molecular de-extinction of ancient antimicrobial peptides enabled by machine learning"

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A group of scientists just resurrected extinct molecules using AI.

Over time, bacteria's becoming more resistant to our antibiotics, making some treatments less effective at fighting diseases.

1 way that researchers are trying to fight back is by looking for new antibiotics.

And some have suggested that we should look to the unique molecules in our ancestors for antibiotic ingredients.

This is called molecular de-extinction, and the thought is that if those molecules help them, maybe they can help us too.

Our closest relatives are Neanderthals and Denisovans, who went extinct between 40,000 and 15,000 years ago.

Both of their genomes have already been sequenced from ancient bones and artifacts, so researchers will be able to use those records to train a machine learning system to look for molecules in their genome that might be able to help us make good antibiotics for present-day humans.

We'll have to wait and see if it generates any successful results.

But the general ability to find new antibiotics at a faster pace is super important, and it's 1 way that machine learning could help us move medicine forward.

If you like optimistic science and tech stories, follow for more.


Speaker 0: A group of scientists just resurrected extinct molecules using AI. My question was, why? Over time, bacteria's becoming more resistant to our antibiotics, making some treatments less effective at fighting diseases. 1 way that researchers are trying to fight back is by looking for new antibiotics. And some have suggested that we should look to the unique molecules in our ancestors for antibiotic ingredients.

This is called molecular de-extinction, and the thought is that if those molecules help them, maybe they can help us too. Our closest relatives are Neanderthals and Denisovans, who went extinct between 40,000 and 15,000 years ago. Both of their genomes have already been sequenced from ancient bones and artifacts, so researchers will be able to use those records to train a machine learning system to look for molecules in their genome that might be able to help us make good antibiotics for present-day humans. We'll have to wait and see if it generates any successful results. But the general ability to find new antibiotics at a faster pace is super important, and it's 1 way that machine learning could help us move medicine forward.

If you like optimistic science and tech stories, follow for more.

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Scientists Just Resurrected These Extinct Molecules