New AI tool to counter emergent mutations of Covid.

ISLAMABAD -- Researchers have developed a new method using artificial intelligence (AI) to counter emergent mutations of the coronavirus and speed up vaccine development to stop the pathogen responsible for killing thousands of people worldwide.

The method developed by researchers at University of Southern California Viterbi School of Engineering in the US is easily adaptable to analyse potential mutations of the virus, ensuring the best possible vaccines are quickly identified - solutions that give humans a big advantage over the evolving contagion.

Their machine-learning model can accomplish vaccine design cycles that once took months or years in a matter of seconds and minutes, Medical Daily reported .

'This AI framework, applied to the specifics of this virus, can provide vaccine candidates within seconds and move them to clinical trials quickly to achieve preventive medical therapies without compromising safety,' said Paul Bogdan, Associate Professor at USC Viterbi and corresponding author of the study.

'Moreover, this can be adapted to help us stay ahead of the coronavirus as it mutates around the world.'

When applied to SARS-CoV-2 - the virus that causes Covid-19 - the computer model quickly eliminated 95 per cent of the compounds that could have possibly treated the pathogen and pinpointed the best options, said the study published in the journal Scientific Reports.

The AI-assisted method predicted 26 potential vaccines that would work against the coronavirus.

From those, the scientists identified the best 11 from which to...