Scientists Develop New Method To Counter Mutations In Coronavirus Using AI Method

Engineers can construct a new multi-epitope vaccine for a new virus in less than a minute and validate its quality within an hour, the USC said. The current processes to control the virus require growing the pathogen in the lab, deactivating it and injecting the virus that caused a disease. The process is time-consuming and takes more than one year; meanwhile, the disease spreads, the report added.

The AI-assisted method will be especially useful during this stage as the coronavirus begins to mutate in populations around the world. Some scientists are concerned that mutations, such as those that have emerged in the United Kingdom, South Africa and Brazil may minimise the effectiveness of vaccines that are now being distributed since they seem to spread more easily.

However, according to researchers, if SARS-CoV-2 becomes uncontrollable with the current vaccines, or if new vaccines are needed to deal with other emerging viruses, then the AI method can be used to design other preventive mechanisms quickly.