From decades to years - AI could speed search for brain drugs hiding in plain sight
Summary
Scientists at the UK Dementia Research Institute are using artificial intelligence (AI) to find existing drugs that could treat brain diseases like motor neurone disease (MND) faster. By analyzing patient data and lab-grown brain cells, they aim to reduce the time to discover effective treatments from decades to years.Key Facts
- Researchers study patient data such as voice recordings, eye scans, and lab-grown brain cells to identify possible drug treatments.
- The AI uses patterns of disease to predict which already-approved drugs might work for neurological conditions like MND, Parkinson’s, and dementia.
- The approach could shorten drug discovery from more than 10 years down to just a few years.
- One trial, called MND-SMART, tests multiple drugs at the same time instead of just one drug versus a placebo.
- Patients like Steven Barrett, diagnosed with MND, participate in these trials hoping to find better treatments.
- Stem cells from patients are turned into brain cells (neurones) to test how drugs affect them in the lab.
- AI algorithms have been trained to change disease signatures in brain cells to a healthy state using existing medicines.
- Using already-approved drugs for new uses can be faster and less complicated than creating new drugs from scratch.
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