New antibiotic family discovered in dirt

[Northerner]

US scientists have discovered a new family of antibiotics in soil samples.

The natural compounds could be used to combat hard-to-treat infections, the team at Rockefeller University hopes.

Tests show the compounds, called malacidins, annihilate several bacterial diseases that have become resistant to most existing antibiotics, including the superbug MRSA.

Experts say the work, published in Nature Microbiology, offers fresh hope in the antibiotics arms race.

Drug-resistant diseases are one of the biggest threats to global health.

They kill around 700,000 people a year, and new treatments are urgently needed.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-43032602

 

[mikeyB]

There are many companies researching arcane compounds produced by animals and plants in nature. The more the merrier, I say.

But, and this is a big but, whatever you throw at bugs, one or two of the little sods will have resistance, then you’re off on the search again. Happened with wonder drug penicillin, sulphonamides, and the litany of new antibiotics since.