Drug Discovery Meets A.I.: Approaching the Problem of Antibiotic Resistance

The development of antibiotics to treat infectious disease is arguably the greatest medical breakthrough of the 20th century.  The discovery of Salvarsan by Paul Ehrlich in 1909 established the Holy Grail: finding a cure for infectious disease. The hunt for drugs inaugurated an ‘Age of Dirt,’ when ever major pharmaceutical company had a team searching through soil for potential antibiotics. The development of drug resistance to antibiotics is now recognized as an existential threat facing humankind on par with climate change and nuclear war, yet pharmaceutical companies rarely invest in new agents. The advent of AI is making the search for new drugs more efficient and may transform the hunt. This talk traces the history and continuing quest for this elusive Holy Grail. 

Dr. Natalie Foster, Professor Emerita, Chemistry Department, Lehigh University