Superbugs

By turning modern scientific tools on an antibiotic discovered 70 years ago, researchers have unearthed a previously unknown mechanism it uses to pierce and pop superbugs like balloons, raising new hopes in the fight against drug-resistant bacteria.

New weapons against so-called “superbugs” are desperately needed. A new black phosphorus coating quickly kills bacteria and fungi, then dissolves within 24 hours – and best of all, bacteria can’t evolve resistance against this mode of attack.

Antibiotic-resistant bacteria are an urgent public health threat. A new single-dose drug has been developed that works on a different mechanism to most antibiotics, and tests in mice show that it can be used to treat multi-drug-resistant gonorrhea.

Microplastics are increasingly found polluting waterways and causing unknown damage to the health of animals and humans. Now, a new study provides evidence there's cross over with another looming public health threat – antibiotic-resistant superbugs.

A study is offering clues to the origins of a deadly fungal pathogen that mysteriously appeared in hospitals around the world 10 years ago. The study chronicles the discovery of the pathogen for the first time in a remote natural environment.

Antibiotic-resistant “superbugs" pose a serious public health threat. New antibiotics are needed to turn the tide, but developing them takes time. Now IBM Research has set AI on the task, producing two promising new drug candidates very quickly.

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.

The growing problem of antibiotic resistance isn’t slowing down, which could soon render our best drugs useless against infection. Now, an existing rheumatoid arthritis drug could be repurposed to cancel bacteria’s resistance to antibiotics.

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.

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.”

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.