Briefs

New Scientist (02/24/01) Vol. 169, No. 2279, P. 26; Cohen, David

At Oxford University,
Ashwin Srinivasan is working with a program called Inductive Logic
Programming, or ILP. ILP can turn information inputted into it by
Srinivasan and his colleagues into a theory and then use this theory
as the basis for developing further ideas. As an example, Srinivasan
and his colleagues had ILP analyze ACE, an enzyme involved with high
blood pressure, and try to develop a way to inhibit ACE molecules. ILP
found two solutions--one that had already been discovered by a human
scientist and one that no scientist, it seems, had ever
considered. Srinivasan says ILP has also provided new insights into
numerous situations, including treating Alzheimer's and selecting
embryos for in vitro fertilization.

Source: ACM Technews, March 7, 2001