New antibiotics discovered in soil
Through careful examination of soil samples, American researchers have discovered a new antibiotic that can kill drug-resistant and disease-causing bacteria.
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| A new antibiotic has been discovered in soil. Photo: Getty Images |
This completely new class of antibiotics, called malacidins (short for metagenomic acidic lipopeptide antibiotic-cidins), was isolated from bacteria that live in soil.
Professor Sean Brady and colleagues at Rockefeller University analyzed DNA from more than 1,000 soil samples to find a novel drug that fights bacteria in a new way. The chemical attacks a key part of the bacterial cell wall – a mechanism that microorganisms cannot resist in the lab. As a result, the new antibiotic has solved the problem of drug-resistant infections in animals.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) estimates that at least 2 million people in the United States become infected with antibiotic-resistant bacteria each year, and at least 23,000 people die each year as a direct result of these infections. Most of these deaths related to antibiotic resistance occur in hospitals and nursing homes.
Researchers warn that in the absence of new therapies, deaths from untreatable infections will increase tenfold by 2050.
