Researchers Suggest Machine Learning Can Predict Antibiotic Resistance Spread

(Newswire.net — August 15, 2022) Orlando, FL — An increasing number of researchers are warning strongly against antibiotic resistance, which continues to be a global health threat. There have been studies that looked into the ways potentially helpful in lessening antimicrobial resistance rates. 

A recently carried-out study, which was spearheaded by doctoral student Hao Zhou, has shown that machine learning can help predict antibiotic resistance spread. 

The findings of this paper, which is called “Functions Predict Horizontal Gene Transfer and the Emergence of Antibiotic Resistance,” were published in Science Advances.

According to experts, genes are not only inherited through birth. There is a process called horizontal gene transfer that involves bacteria having the ability to pass genes to each other, or snatch them from their environment. 

It is worth being warned that horizontal gene transfer is considered to be a major culprit in the spread of antibiotic resistance.

In this study, the Cornell researchers utilized machine learning for the purpose of sorting organisms by their functions. They also used such information in predicting with near-perfect accuracy how certain genes are transferred between them.

It is important to stress this is an approach that could be potentially useful in halting the spread of antibiotic resistance.

“Organisms basically can acquire resistance genes from other organisms. And so it would help if we knew which organisms bacteria were exchanging with, and not only that, but we could figure out what are the driving factors that implicate organisms in this transfer,” said Ilana Brito.

Brito is an assistant professor and the Mong Family Sesquicentennial Faculty Fellow in Biomedical Engineering in the College of Engineering and the paper’s senior author. 

“If we can figure out who is exchanging genes with who, then maybe it would give insight into how this actually happens and possibly even control these processes.”

More and more research studies are being carried out to look into the remedies potentially helpful in fighting antibiotic resistance. It is important to note that such a global health issue is being fueled by the misuse and overuse of antibiotics.

Antibiotics have long been known for their life-saving benefits, and are being widely used today as a treatment for urinary tract infections (UTIs). It is worth realizing there are many UTI cases that do not actually require the use of antibiotics. 

There are all-natural, side effect-free remedies for UTIs and one is D-mannose, which is widely used as a treatment in the onset and recurrence of the infection.

Today, it is obtained widely through the use of superior-strength formulas like Divine Bounty D-mannose (http://www.amazon.com/D-Mannose-600mg-Cranberry-Dandelion-Extract/dp/B01LX5KGF0).