Antibiotic-resistant bacteria

Bacteria are fast developing resistance to our best drugs, leaving us poised on the edge of a major health crisis. But a new antibiotic has shown promise against several key “superbugs,” while minimizing damage against good bacteria in the body.

A pair of new studies from researchers in the UK offer a warning to dog owners who frequently feed their pets raw meat. The research indicates pets fed raw meat diets were more likely to harbor antibiotic-resistant bacteria.

Scientists at Brown University have developed a new material that can release drugs only when pathogenic bacteria are around. When used as a bandage, the hydrogel could deliver medication on-demand when infection begins to take hold.

Bacteria are great at resisting antibiotics, but they can’t fight tiny drills ripping them open. Researchers have now demonstrated next-generation molecular drills that are activated by blue light and could revolutionize the fight against superbugs.

Algorithms have helped uncover a new antibiotic that shows promise against some nasty bacteria, using a novel mode of attack that should be hard for them to develop resistance to. Most importantly it could unlock a whole new arsenal of antibiotics.

A study has shown how engineered bacteria can protect the gut microbiome from the impact of antibiotic use. Mouse studies showed the bacteria breaks down antibiotics in the intestine while still allowing high levels of the drugs to enter the bloodstream.

While antibiotics are very effective at treating infected wounds, they should definitely be used sparingly. An experimental new bandage was designed with this fact in mind, as it only dispenses medication when it detects the heat of an infection.

Antibiotic-resistant bacteria are poised to become a major health problem, predicted to claim up to 10 million lives a year by 2050. Researchers have found a new way to fight back, by targeting a protein that bacteria use to generate drug resistance.

Researchers have developed a simple new way to make material surfaces with intricate nanoscale textures, all inspired by nature. Different patterns have a range of applications, like making antimicrobial surfaces or reducing ship hull friction.

Failing antibiotics could lead to a future “dark age of medicine” where once-simple infections become lethal again. Scientists have now found a way to restore antibiotics to their former strength, by repurposing a drug developed to treat Alzheimer’s.

MRSA is an antibiotic resistant superbug often found infecting vulnerable hospital patients. Thought to have emerged as a result of excessive antibiotic use, a new study is suggesting a strain of MRSA actually first appeared 200 years ago in hedgehogs.

In a significant breakthrough, scientists have pinpointed signs of "pre-resistance" in bacteria for the first time, which they say could allow for better targeted therapies that nip superbugs in the bud before they develop resistance to drugs.