Science s COVID-19 reporting is supported by the Heising-Simons Foundation
ILLUSTRATION: STEPHAN SCHMITZ/FOLIO ART
In March 2020, as the scope of the COVID-19 pandemic was coming into view, Jen Nwankwo and colleagues turned a pair of artificial intelligence (AI) tools against SARS-CoV-2. One newly developed AI program, called SUEDE, digitally screens all known druglike compounds for likely activity against biomolecules thought to be involved in disease. The other, BAGEL, predicts how to build inhibitors to known targets. The two programs searched for compounds able to block human enzymes that play essential roles in enabling the virus to infect our cells.
While SUEDE sifted through 14 billion compounds in just hours and spit out a hit, BAGEL made equally fast work of designing a lead. Nwankwo, CEO of a Massachusetts biotech startup called 1910 Genetics, asked a chemical company partner to synthesize the compounds. A week or so later, her team received the orders, added each compou
Science’s COVID-19 reporting is supported by the Heising-Simons Foundation.
In March 2020, as the scope of the COVID-19 pandemic was coming into view, Jen Nwankwo and colleagues turned a pair of artificial intelligence (AI) tools against SARS-CoV-2. One newly developed AI program, called SUEDE, digitally screens all known druglike compounds for likely activity against biomolecules thought to be involved in disease. The other, BAGEL, predicts how to build inhibitors to known targets. The two programs searched for compounds able to block human enzymes that play essential roles in enabling the virus to infect our cells.
While SUEDE sifted through 14 billion compounds in just hours and spit out a hit, BAGEL made equally fast work of designing a lead. Nwankwo, CEO of a Massachusetts biotech startup called 1910 Genetics, asked a chemical company partner to synthesize the compounds. A week or so later, her team received the orders, added each compound in turn to human cells, and learned
Over 20 dead, millions struggle without power as cold snap grips US
Agencies
February 17, 2021
Washington, Feb 17: Millions were left without power as a winter storm gripped the southern and central United States on Tuesday with record-low temperatures in ill-prepared areas, and a tornado claiming three lives.
More than 20 storm-related deaths have been registered so far, including in traffic accidents in Texas, Kentucky and Missouri, according to local media.
In hardest-hit Texas where freezing conditions prompted utility companies to implement rotating blackouts a woman and girl died from carbon monoxide poisoning after using a car to generate heat, according to NBC News.