Dr. César de la Fuente has a two-word solution for bridging the dual problems of high costs and lengthy development timelines for new antibiotics: artificial intelligence.
As leader of the Machine Biology Group at the University of Pennsylvania, Dr. de la Fuente believes computer power and data availability may also provide the solution for a problem in nature: the lack of truly novel classes of antibiotics amid increasing resistance globally to current antibiotic treatments.
“In my lab we’re trying to combine these two things to help accelerate antibiotic discovery and also decrease the costs associated with it,” he said.
Dr. de la Fuente spoke at the Eastern New York American Society for Microbiology Training Symposium, held on March 31 at ACPHS’ new Life Sciences Innovation Building. This year’s conference marked a return to in-person events for ENYASM, following several years of virtual gatherings due to the COVID-19 pandemic, according to Antonia Oropallo, an ACPHS microbiology student who is treasurer of the local chapter.
The conference drew more than 120 attendees to listen to Dr. de la Fuente’s talk, hear six other research presentations (including one by Erica Scholl, ACPHS candidate for a master’s in molecular biosciences) and view 19 research posters. Organizers and researchers came from ACPHS, the University at Albany and the state Department of Health’s Wadsworth Center. (Pankaj Kanna Panneer Selvam of ACPHS is shown above at his poster.)
As the keynote speaker, Dr. de la Fuente discussed methods under investigation in his laboratory using AI to discover potential drug treatments. Among those futuristic techniques, as an example, was training a computer to create biological diversity by mimicking the algorithm of evolution. With this method, natural selection becomes computational selection, and millions of years of evolutionary change are compressed to hours or days, Dr. de la Fuente said. Through this method, the computer could improve molecules to create new antibiotics – while also identifying previously unexplored areas of genetic sequencing in those known molecules.
“Instead of relying on the biological world as a source of inspiration for providing some of these molecules, we’re trying to translate the chemical complexity of molecules into the binary code of ones and zeros so the computer can actually take care of the discovery process and the optimization process,” Dr. de la Fuente said.
Melanie Vugelman, a senior microbiology student who hopes to attend medical school, said she enjoyed Dr. de la Fuente’s talk, as it gave her a glimpse into the kind of information and potential treatments she may need to inform patients about one day.
"We're the people who are going to be interacting most with this crazy technology," Vugelman said.
Oropallo, a sophomore in the ACPHS microbiology program who is the lone undergraduate on the ENYASM board, said she has learned a great deal from her counterparts in the organization, who are in more advanced stages of their research careers. She also learned about the finer details of putting an event together.
“I learned how much work goes into these big events and all the details people don’t notice,” she said.
Oropallo found out about the local chapter through ACPHS faculty, including Professor Meenakshi Malik and Assistant Professor Nicole Shakerley, who serves as the ENYASM president.