AI helps researchers to find a new way to fight the monkeypox virus

AI helps researchers to find a new way to fight the monkeypox virus

With the help of artificial intelligence, an international team of researchers has made the first major inroad to date towards a new and more effective way to fight the monkeypox virus (MPXV), which causes a painful and sometimes deadly disease that can be especially dangerous for children, pregnant women and immunocompromised people.

AI Just Exposed Monkeypox’s Hidden Weak Spot for New Vaccines

Scientists leveraged AlphaFold 3 to pinpoint a previously overlooked monkeypox protein that antibodies latch onto. By injecting this AI-identified antigen into mice, researchers triggered strong neutralizing responses. The finding could pave the way for safer, simpler vaccines and antibody therapies. It may even bolster defenses against smallpox biothreats. AI Helps Researchers Identify a New Path [...]

Monkeypox Vaccine Breakthrough: AI Reveals New Target

In 2022, monkeypox virus (mpox) caused more than 150,000 cases—causing flu-like symptoms and painful rashes and lesions. The outbreak resulted in almost 500 deaths. At the time, vaccines developed to fight smallpox were repurposed to help the most vulnerable patients. But that vaccine—manufactured from a whole, weakened virus—is complicated and costly to make. Now, a major inroad towards a new and more effective way to fight monkeypox virus has …