A virus designed by AI has treated a human patient for the first time

Scientists have used AI to design viruses that were given to a patient whose bacterial infection no longer responded to antibiotics — the first time this has ever been done. The viruses are called bacteriophages: natural bacteria-hunters that attack one specific kind of bacterium while leaving helpful bacteria largely alone. A company called Radical Numerics used its AI model, Omnii-1, to create virus variants matched to the bacteria causing this patient's infection, and in laboratory tests the mixture wiped those bacteria out. Doctors then gave the treatment under a special permission process reserved for seriously ill patients who have no other workable options. The company has not shared how the patient is doing, and is clear that a single case cannot prove a treatment is safe or effective. Even so, it is a genuine first: a possible new route for the growing number of infections that antibiotics can no longer beat.

SDG 3 · Good health and well-being — Mechanism: tech innovation