AI-Driven Antimicrobial Peptide Discovery: Mining and Generation

The escalating threat of antimicrobial resistance (AMR) poses a significant global health crisis, potentially surpassing cancer as a leading cause of death by 2050. Traditional antibiotic discovery methods have not kept pace with the rapidly evolving resistance mechanisms of pathogens, highlighting the urgent need for novel therapeutic strategies. In this context, antimicrobial peptides (AMPs) represent a promising class of therapeutics due to their selectivity toward bacteria and slower induction of resistance compared to classical, small molecule antibiotics. However, designing effective AMPs remains challenging because of the vast combinatorial sequence space and the need to balance efficacy with low toxicity. Addressing this issue is of paramount importance for chemists and researchers dedicated to developing next-generation antimicrobial agents.