Antibiotic-resistant bacteria

In a move that could lead to new innovations in antibiotic production, the genome of a freeze-dried sample of Sir Alexander Fleming's original mold that led to his discovery of penicillin has been sequenced for the first time.

The usefulness of antibiotics is beginning to unravel, with potentially devastating results. In the hunt for new drugs, researchers have now investigated how an antivitamin of Vitamin B1 could be a promising new weapon against these “superbugs.”

Australian scientists have discovered a previously unknown protective mechanism bacteria use to kill immune cells, opening up potential research pathways that could help doctors fight antibiotic-resistant superbugs.

Bacteria are fast developing resistance to antibiotics, but we may soon have a new weapon to fight back. Bacteriophages are viruses that prey on bacteria, and now scientists have used them to treat Golden Staph infections in diabetic foot ulcers.

A Medieval medical book hold the key to new ways to combat antibiotic-resistant bacteria. Scientists have found that a medical recipe from the ancient Bald's Leechbook is effective against five strains of bacteria that cause biofilm infections.

Antibiotic-resistant bacteria are emerging as a serious public health threat. Now, researchers have developed a system using nanoparticles wrapped in graphene oxide to kill both the superbugs and their free-floating resistance genes in wastewater.

Scientists at the University of Exeter have developed a promising technique that could help slow the rise of antibiotic-resistant superbugs, by quickly illuminating bacteria when antibiotics are having the desired effect.

MRSA is a common and quite dangerous hospital infection that’s resistant to many drugs. Now researchers have developed a new treatment path that targets not the bacteria itself, but the toxins they produce. Tests on mice have proved promising so far.

A study from scientists at the University of California, Davis, has found unpasteurized milk, commonly known as raw milk, holds large volumes of antimicrobial-resistant genes which can swiftly spawn dangerous bacteria when left at room temperature.

Bacteria build protective communities called biofilms that make it tough to get antibiotics in, leading to further health problems. But now, researchers have found a new weakness in biofilms that could be exploited.

A team of Princeton researchers has uncovered a first-of-a-kind compound that works like a “poisoned arrow” on superbugs, penetrating the protective layers of bacteria to tear up its interior while remaining immune to antibiotic resistance.

The cell wall of bacteria helps keep toxins such as antibiotics out. Now, researchers have discovered a key mechanism that bacteria use to build their cell walls, which could present a new target in the ongoing quest to develop new drugs.