AI used to predict potential new antibiotics in groundbreaking study: Algorithm to mine ‘the entirety of the microbial diversity’ on Earth, speeding up antibiotic resistance research.

Lugh@futurology.today · 5 months ago

AI used to predict potential new antibiotics in groundbreaking study: Algorithm to mine ‘the entirety of the microbial diversity’ on Earth, speeding up antibiotic resistance research.

MaximilianKohler@futurology.today · 5 months ago

More antibiotics is not the solution. We need to be moving away from antibiotics, and drastically decreasing their use/overuse.

While antibiotic resistance gets all the attention, the damage being done to our host-native microbiomes is arguably as big a threat as climate change, as the damage compounds over generations, and once it’s gone you can’t get it back.
https://humanmicrobiome.info/antibiotics/

Wanderer@lemm.ee · 5 months ago

I’m surprised FMT aren’t a bigger thing.

Think they would be able to make some sort of artificial FMT. Probiotics aren’t enough.

I know personally I have taken a boat load of antibiotics as a child and I took some for Cellulitis which because it was a skin infection required a high daily dose, never been the same since.

MaximilianKohler@futurology.today · 5 months ago

Think they would be able to make some sort of artificial FMT

We’re a long way (many decades) off from that. This blog goes into more detail with references: https://www.humanmicrobes.org/blog/stool-donors-one-in-a-million-ai-funding-potential

One of which is this page that shows the severe limits of current knowledge: https://humanmicrobiome.info/testing/

threelonmusketeers@sh.itjust.works · 5 months ago

What are FMT?

Wanderer@lemm.ee · 5 months ago

You take someone’s poop and put it up your butt.

Fecal microbiota transplantation.

threelonmusketeers@sh.itjust.works · 5 months ago

Ah, thanks. I’d heard of that, but wasn’t familiar with the initialism.