Thanks to artificial intelligence, scientists have discovered the most powerful anti-aging molecule

Scientists from Spain and Scotland have used artificial intelligence to search for new senolytics, substances that slow down cell aging. The neural network managed to find three substances, of which one — oleandrin — showed exceptional efficiency.

Senolytics work by «killing» old cells that are metabolically active but can no longer reproduce. Scientists have nicknamed them «zombie cells» because they have damaged DNA.

«Aging cells are not always good. They secrete a cocktail of inflammatory proteins that can spread to neighboring cells. Throughout our lives, our cells are exposed to a barrage of attacks, from ultraviolet rays to chemicals, and so these cells accumulate. Anincreased number of senescent cells is associated with a number of diseases, including type 2 diabetes, COVID, pulmonary fibrosis, osteoarthritis, and cancer,» the scientists emphasize.

Studies in laboratory mice have shown that eliminating senescent cells with senolytics can alleviate the course of these diseases. The drugs can kill «zombie» cells while keeping healthy cells alive.

Scientists wanted to find out whether a machine learning model could identify new candidate senolytic drugs. To do this, the researchers provided AI models with examples of known senolytics and non-senolytics. Having learned to distinguish between them, the neural networks were able to predict whether molecules they had never «seen» before could also be senolytics.

«We identified the best AI model and set it up for prediction.We gave it 4,340 molecules, and in five minutes it produced a list of results,» the scientists say.

The AI model identified 21 molecules with the highest scores, which are highly likely to be senolytic. «If we had tested the original 4,340 molecules in the laboratory, it would have taken at least several weeks of hard work and £50,000, not including the cost of testing equipment and its setup,» the scientists clarify.

The researchers then tested the AI-selected molecules on two types of cells: healthy and aging. The results showed that out of 21 compounds, three — periplocin, oleandrin, and ginkwetin — are able to destroy old cells while keeping most normal cells alive.

Detailed biological experiments demonstrated that oleandrin was more powerful than any other senolytics known to science. Scientists have already successfully tested oleandrin on animals and hope that in two years, senolytics can be used in human therapy.