Antibiotic

Antibiotics can be literal lifesavers, but they are particularly hard on the gut thanks to their indiscriminate destruction of both good and bad bacteria in the body. New research shows a possible way to fight their negative effects based on diet.

A new antibiotic to relieve stubborn urinary tract infections and a blood-clot dissolving treatment for acute ischemic stroke will be commercially available in the coming months. It's been nearly three decades since adjacent drugs have hit the market.

In seeking new antibiotic sources, researchers have turned to an unlikely source: a whiffy frog known as Odorrana andersonii. By unclumping a compound it produces naturally, they've found a potential gut-friendly ally in the fight against superbugs.

A recent study has shown that nanoplastics – plastic particles smaller than 0.001 millimeters – block the body's ability to absorb antibiotics normally, and may even lead to the growth of antibiotic-resistant bacteria.

A. baumannii bacteria is a nasty antibiotic-resistant bug that thrives in hospitals, where it takes advantage of weakened immune systems. Researchers have now found the bacteria's secret weapon and have ideas on how to use it for good.

Science's war against the super-small and, sometimes, super-deadly bacteria that have evolved to resist destruction by antibiotics may have just enlisted new, unlikely allies: invertebrate creatures living in the frigid depths of the Arctic Ocean.

Researchers have combined the bacteria-killing actions of two classes of antibiotics into one, demonstrating that their new dual-action antibiotic could make bacterial resistance (almost) an impossibility.

Antibiotics kill disease-causing bacteria as well as the beneficial ones living in our gut, disturbing the health-maintaining microbiome. A new antibiotic specifically targets hard-to-kill bacteria while leaving our good gut bacteria alone, according to a new study.

US doctors haven’t been following the rules when it comes to prescribing antibiotics, according to new research. Despite the rise in antibiotic resistance, between 2017 and 2021 more than a quarter of antibiotics prescribed were for conditions they’re ineffective against.

A mussel protein could one day keep infections from occurring at the site of bone implants such as artificial hips. And while the protein does kill the microbes, it should still limit the development of antibiotic-resistant "superbacteria."

Bacteria often go dormant to avoid being wiped out by antibiotics, which makes treatment difficult. Now scientists have discovered a virus that can attack these sleeping bugs, clearing out infections effectively when paired with drugs.

It has been known for some time now that chemicals produced by certain ants have antibiotic properties. For the first time, however, one species of ant has been observed actually using those chemicals to treat infected wounds on others of its kind.