🌿 AI Creates Medicines From Ancient Plants
According to the WHO, nearly half of all medicines (including aspirin and morphine) are based on molecules found in nature. However, 99.9% of the chemical composition of plants remains unstudied.
Colorado-based biotech startup Enveda created an AI platform that describes the molecular formulas of medicinal herbs and predicts their therapeutic potential.
The model analyzed 33 million ethnobotanical sources collected over 5,000 years, selecting 38,000 plants used to treat the symptoms of 12,000 ailments. The AI cataloged their chemical makeup and identified the active molecules with the biggest pharmacological potential.
Researchers have already started testing on humans an anti-inflammatory medicine from a plant that has a long history of treating symptoms of asthma and eczema. Next in line are drugs for weight loss, immune system support, and the treatment of neurological diseases.
"We're combining ancient ancestral wisdom with the power of nature's chemistry with modern AI and drug discovery. We're standing on the shoulders of maybe the giant, which is Mother Nature," says Enveda CEO Viswa Kolluru.
Enveda recently raised $150 million in investments and reached a valuation of $1 billion. The startup's laboratories employ former employees of Pfizer, AstraZeneca, Eli Lilly, and other pharmaceutical giants.
