New Atlas

Science Audio available

Study reveals how hibernating bacteria can hide from antibiotics

Rich Haridy September 25, 2018

Not all pathogenic bacteria needs to evolve a variant to avoid destruction from antibiotics. A new study has revealed that some bacteria can effectively enter a state of hibernation, waiting for the effects to antibiotics to pass, resulting in persistent and chronic infections.

A new discovery reveals bacteria can release an enzyme slowing its growth in order to temporarily ...

Medical

Even antidepressants could be contributing to antibiotic-resistant bacteria

Michael Irving September 10, 2018

The looming threat of drug-resistant bacteria is usually chalked up to overuse of antibiotics. But now, researchers have found that pharmaceutical compounds that aren’t antibiotic themselves can also contribute to the rise of superbugs, including antidepressants like Prozac.

Researchers have found that even non-antibiotic drugs, including antidepressants, can contribute to the development of antibiotic ...

Biology

New antibiotic candidates were inside us all along

Michael Irving August 22, 2018

With bacteria rapidly evolving resistance to our best antibiotics, scientists are searching high and low for new ones. Researchers have now found that a potent peptide normally used for digestion has strong antimicrobial effects, and could form the base of new drugs.

A new antibiotic candidate has been found – and it's already inside the human body

Science

Cheap paper device detects bogus antibiotics

Ben Coxworth August 21, 2018

In developing nations, unscrupulous companies routinely produce counterfeit or diluted antibiotics. Unfortunately, those same countries often lack the expensive lab equipment needed to detect fakes. There could be hope, however, in the form of a simple new paper device.

The device's target area stays yellow if antibiotic samples are legit, but changes to red if ...

Medical

Superbugs might meet their match in oxygen weaponized by light

Michael Irving August 20, 2018

To avoid a future where once-routine procedures become life-threatening again, new ways to fight bacteria need to be developed. A new study has now shown oxygen can be weaponized against antibiotic-resistant bacteria, by way of nanoparticles activated by light.

Researchers have developed a new weapon against antibiotic-resistant bacteria, where light is used to produce reactive ...

Medical

Failed antibiotics team up to defeat superbugs

Michael Irving August 13, 2018

Infectious bacteria are becoming increasingly resistant to our best antibiotics. Now researchers at BIDMC have found that combining two antibiotics that no longer work can create a treatment that’s once again effective against antibiotic-resistant bacteria.

Researchers have found that combining two ineffective antibiotics can make for an effective new treatment against ...

Medical Audio available

Drug-resistant bacteria are growing tolerant to strong alcohol-based hand rubs

Rich Haridy August 5, 2018

The increased use of alcohol-based hand sanitizers and disinfectants in hospitals has been incredibly successful in reducing cases of deadly golden staph infections. However, a new study has found that some bacteria are now becoming resistant to these alcohol-based sanitizers.

Increased hand sanitizer use in hospitals is unexpectedly spurring the growth of bacteria tolerant to alcohol ...

Medical

New antibiotics found in leafy bacterial battlegrounds

Michael Irving July 30, 2018

Researchers from ETH Zurich have found a way to make use of some of the chemical weapons bacteria have developed against each other. In this case, that bacterial battleground is on the surface of thale cress leaves.

This bustling bacterial metropolis is located on a leaf, and it might just help us discover ...

Medical

New antibiotic shows long-lasting promise as superbug killer

Michael Irving June 17, 2018

A team at Purdue University has found that a compound called F6 is effective at killing bacteria that have already evolved resistance to existing antibiotics. In tests the new drug also seems less susceptible to bacterial resistance down the track.

Researchers have isolated a compound that's effective at killing antibiotic-resistant bacteria, and appears to make it ...

Medical

New antibiotic silences genes to single out bad bacteria

Michael Irving June 7, 2018

Antibiotics aren’t very picky, indiscriminately wiping out both good and bad bacteria and upsetting the balance of your microbiome. Now, researchers at Penn State have developed a new approach to make a drug that can single out a specific, opportunistic bacteria known as C. difficile.

Researchers at Penn State have developed an antibiotic that targets a specific species of bad bacteria, ...