AUSTIN, Texas — Lately, it seems like artificial intelligence is everywhere. When we shop online, to make music, and even to chat.
Diaz said he teaches AI bioorganic chemistry that they can apply to unique systems. Their focus is on an active ingredient found in the wild daffodil. Diaz said to make a pound of the medication, they have to use 333 daffodils. The active ingredient costs $23,000 per pound, and the prescription costs $80 right now.“So right now, even though that drug is a generic drug, it costs a lot of money to go get it at your local Walgreens or CVS pharmacy," Diaz said."But what if you could instead brew it here? Right here in Texas."
According to Diaz, the AI software called AlphaFold helps identify which proteins are good to use or to avoid. At the same time, they used bio-sensor technology, created by an author of the study Simon d’Oelsnitz, to see if the protein would work. “There was, like a 5%, discrepancy," Kim said."Actually, that discrepancy was very critical for predicting how the drug is binding into the enzyme. AI is very helpful ... But it still cannot cover all parts of structural biology. “