MIT professors Regina Barzilay and James Collins have received the Pritzker Prize for AI in Science Research Excellence for 2026. The honor celebrates their shared use of artificial intelligence to discover antibiotics. Their approach combines AI with biological engineering and laboratory tests to identify possible treatments for bacteria that resist existing drugs.
In 2020, they published their first breakthrough paper together with Jonathan Stokes. It described halicin, the first antibiotic discovered using AI. Originally investigated as a possible diabetes drug, halicin killed several types of drug-resistant bacteria in tests. The discovery process took weeks rather than years.
The researchers worked with Stokes again to identify abaucin in 2023. Unlike halicin, which acts against several kinds of bacteria, abaucin targets one particular type of drug-resistant bacteria. This focused action reduces the likelihood of bacteria developing resistance and of damage to helpful bacteria in the gut.
Collins says traditional antibiotic searches are slow, expensive, and unpredictable. He sees AI moving from identifying promising substances toward designing new medicines. However, Barzilay cautions that AI can currently automate only parts of drug discovery. She says more realistic AI models of human biology are needed to transform the whole process.
