Antibiotic

Bacteria are fast evolving resistance to antibiotics, meaning our best drugs could soon stop working entirely. Now researchers have found a way to bypass drug resistance in these so-called superbugs – by distracting them with predatory viruses.

Decades of overuse means bacteria are quickly developing resistance to antibiotics. A new study has found that an FDA-approved drug can act as an "anti-antibiotic,” reducing the development of drug resistance when taken alongside an antibiotic.

When a patient receives a titanium artificial hip, there's always the risk of an infection developing at the interface between the metal and the bone. A new implant-coating process, however, is intended to greatly reduce that risk.

Antibiotic-resistant bacteria are poised to become a huge health problem, and we desperately need new treatments. Now, researchers have engineered new antimicrobial molecules from wasp venom, which have shown promise in tests in mice.

Just like us, crop plants are subject to bacterial infections. And while antibiotics are often used to kill those microbes, compounds extracted from fly larva fat may prove to be a more eco-friendly alternative.

Outer ear infections can get serious if left untreated, which is exactly what may happen in places lacking infrastructure. A new medication could help, though, as it's applied in just one dose, and it doesn't need to be refrigerated.

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.”

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.

Bacteria are a looming threat to public health, as they continue to develop resistance to antibiotics. Now a new study has identified a peptide that can make existing antibiotics more effective at a much lower dose.

Small “persister” populations of bacteria are able to hide from antibiotics, seeding a new colony afterwards. Now scientists at the University of Surrey have identified genetic mutations that turn some bugs into persisters by making them “forgetful.”

The treatment of infections can be challenging, as it takes time to determine if harmful bacteria are even present, and to then figure out which antibiotic would work best. A simple new test, however, is said to answer both questions on the spot.