Superbugs

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.

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.

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.”

One of humanity’s biggest threats is also the smallest – bacteria. But now, researchers at RMIT in Australia have found a new method for killing these superbugs that they can’t resist – magnetic nanoparticles that physically tear them to shreds.

One of the most alarmingly plausible (and overlooked) doomsday scenarios is the rise of the superbug, bacteria that are resistant to antibiotics. But now, scientists have found a new potential treatment – and it was hiding in our skin the whole time.

Researchers have analyzed a weapon that bacteria use to kill each other – a toxic "crossbow bolt" – which could inspire new antibiotics.

A new long-term study has found high levels of antibiotic-resistant bacteria in wild dolphins, with rates growing over the last decade.

Deadly, drug-resistant forms of K. pneumoniae bacteria are spreading. Thankfully a new vaccine has shown promise in tests on mice.

Researchers at Imperial College London have found that a high-priority superbug resists drugs by closing its pores.