Antibiotics Sought for Resistant Bacteria
Posted on: Monday, 10 December 2007, 15:00 CST
British scientists are pioneering new ways of tweaking the molecular structure of antibiotics to allow them to successfully fight resistant bacteria.
University of Manchester scientists Jason Micklefield, Colin Smith and colleagues were the first to engineer the biosynthesis of lipopeptide antibiotics in 2002. They have now developed methodologies for altering the structure of the antibiotics, such as mutating, adding and deleting components.
That innovation, they said, provides access to thousands of lipopeptide variants that cannot be produced easily in any other way.
The results from this work are essential in the development of the next generation of lipopeptide antibiotics, which are critical to combat emerging super bugs that have acquired resistance to other antibiotics, said Micklefield. The potent activity of this class of antibiotics against pathogens that are resistant to all current antibiotic treatments makes them one of the most important groups of antibiotics available.
He added, If we are to successfully fight and control potent new super bugs in the future, we need to be developing the next generation of antibiotics now.
The research appears in the Journal of the American Chemical Society.
Source: United Press International
Related Articles
- Cubist Pharmaceuticals to Promote in the U.S. AstraZeneca's Broad Spectrum Antibiotic, MERREM I.V.
- Merck Licenses Antibiotic From Cubist
- Could Antibiotics Prevent Stroke?
- Common Antibiotic May Discolor Gums
- Electromagnetic augmentation of antibiotic efficacy in infection of orthopaedic implants
- Antibiotic Use Report Sees Cloud Amid Silver Lining
- Antibiotics Were Overprescribed Amid Anthrax Scare
- Antibiotic Resistance on the Rise
- Antibiotic Overload
 |
 |
User Comments (0)
RSS Feeds