Antibiotic News and Research

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Antibiotics are drugs used to treat infections caused by bacteria and other microorganisms.

Taiwan residents to receive two month free access to The Cochrane Library

Taiwan residents will receive free access to The Cochrane Library in August and September 2011, in collaboration with the Taiwan Evidence Based Medicine Association at their Annual Conferencein September, whereDr. Charles Young, VP and Publishing Director for Global Clinical Solutions, atThe Cochrane Library's publisher, Wiley-Blackwell, will be presenting a session.

12 Sep 2011

Chemical biology researchers to meet at Scientific Oktoberfest in München

The "Scientific Oktoberfest" will be this year's meeting point for some of the internationally most distinguished researchers in the field of Chemical Biology. The so-called "CIPSM Fest of Chemical Biology" will be held from the 15th to the 16th of September in the Department of Chemistry of the Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität (LMU) München.

9 Sep 2011

Duties, role of clinical laboratory microbiologists could change significantly in the future

With the increasing availability of sophisticated technologies to rapidly diagnose and treat infectious diseases, the duties and the role of clinical laboratory microbiologists, who traditionally perform these tests, could see significant changes in the next few years. That is one of the conclusions of a series of reports published in a special supplement to the September 2011 Journal of Clinical Microbiology.

9 Sep 2011

Study identifies genes never before linked to antibiotic resistance in enterococci

An analysis of the genome of a superbug has yielded crucial, novel information that could aid efforts to counteract the bacterium's resistance to an antibiotic of last resort.

9 Sep 2011

Mass. Eye and Ear receives NIAID grant to coordinate Harvard-wide Project on Antibiotic Resistance

The Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary has received an $11 million grant from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Disease, the largest National Institutes of Health grant in this hospital's187-year history, to coordinate the Harvard-wide Project on Antibiotic Resistance.

8 Sep 2011

Adding azithromycin to usual daily treatment for COPD reduces acute exacerbations by 27%

Richard Casaburi, Ph.D., M.D., principal investigator at Los Angeles Biomedical Research Institute (LA BioMed), is co-author of a recent study that should help improve the condition for the millions of individuals who suffer from chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, better known as COPD.

8 Sep 2011

First-ever comprehensive study of species origins of nature-derived drugs

In a first-ever comprehensive study of the species origins of nature-derived drugs, it is shown that drug-producing species are concentrated and clustered in a limited number of families, refuting the conventional view that as every nature species produces biologically active molecules, one can find drugs from almost any major block of species groups if one looks for them hard enough.

8 Sep 2011

BARDA awards GlaxoSmithKline contract for development of dual-purpose broad spectrum antibiotic

The federal government today issued a contract for advanced research and development of a dual-purpose broad spectrum antibiotic with potential to treat illnesses caused by bioterrorism threats such as plague and tularemia, as well as more certain life-threatening infections, known as Gram-negative infections, associated with prolonged hospitalization.

7 Sep 2011

GSK receives HHS' BARDA contract to support development of Gram-negative antibiotic, GSK2251052

Anacor Pharmaceuticals announced today that its partner, GlaxoSmithKline (GSK), has been awarded a contract with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services' (HHS) Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA) to support the ongoing development of GSK2251052 (GSK '052, formerly AN3665), a novel boron-based Gram-negative systemic antibiotic discovered by Anacor.

7 Sep 2011

Superbug structure deciphered

NDM-1, the enzyme responsible for antibiotic-resistant "superbugs," has had its structure deciphered by British scientists. NDM-1 (New Delhi metallo-beta-lactamase 1) emerged in India three years ago. It has the ability to break up, or hydrolyze, even carbapenems, the strongest class of antibiotics, making them ineffective, and has been found in a wide variety of pathogens. Antibiotic resistance is on the rise. More than 25,000 people in the European Union die every year from bacterial infections.

6 Sep 2011

NanoLogix to move R&D operations from Cincinnati to its headquarters in Hubbard

NanoLogix, an innovator in the accelerated detection and identification of microorganisms, announced today it will move its research and development operations from Cincinnati to its headquarters in Hubbard, Ohio.

6 Sep 2011

Researchers discover novel way to increase amounts of antibiotics

A novel way of increasing the amounts of antibiotics produced by bacteria has been discovered that could markedly improve the yields of these important compounds in commercial production. It could also be valuable in helping to discover new compounds. With the ever-growing threat from antibiotic resistance, these tools will be very useful in ensuring that we have enough of these useful compounds in the future.

5 Sep 2011

Scientists sequence ten variants of E. coli O104:H4 outbreak strain across the world

Ten variants of the deadly Escherichia coli strain that hit Germany in May 2011 have been sequenced across the world. The unprecedented level of collaboration across the scientific community should give insight into how the outbreak arose, says a scientist at the Society for General Microbiology's Autumn Conference 2011.

5 Sep 2011

New IDSA/PIDS guidelines can thwart pneumonia in children

Immunizations, including a yearly flu vaccine, are the best way to protect children from life-threatening pneumonia, according to new guidelines from the Pediatric Infectious Diseases Society and the Infectious Diseases Society of America.

2 Sep 2011

Ancient antibiotic resistance findings leads experts to stress need to use antibiotics sparingly

"An analysis of 30,000-year-old bacteria whose DNA has been recovered from the Yukon permafrost shows that they were able to resist antibiotics," providing "the first direct evidence that antibiotic resistance is a widespread natural phenomenon that preceded the modern medical use of antibiotics," according to a study in Thursday's issue of the journal Nature, the New York Times reports.

2 Sep 2011

MRSA ‘superbug’: Everyone at risk!

Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA), a type of staph bacteria that does not respond to commonly used antibiotic treatments, is a type of infection that has been a problem in hospital settings for many years. Back in 2000 it began steadily making its way into the lives of otherwise healthy people, especially children, who are not typically at risk for the fast-moving bacteria.

2 Sep 2011

Further acne treatment studies necessary: Experts

Researchers writing in the journal The Lancet suggest further research that is urgently needed for effective non-antibiotic treatments for acne, because of concerns regarding long-term antibiotic use and its contribution to bacterial resistance. Pharmacies are well stocked with a wide range of acne medications. However, evidence regarding their efficacy and which treatments work best for whom are limited, the authors added.

31 Aug 2011

Guatemalan Syphilis study in 1940’s violated ethical standards: US presidential commission report

The U.S. presidential commission has found that U.S. government researchers violated ethical standards by deliberately infecting Guatemalan prison inmates and mental patients with syphilis for an experiment in the 1940s. This research did not treat Guatemalan participants as human beings and failed to inform them they were taking part in research study, calling into question the bioethics behind the study design.

31 Aug 2011

Hospitalized children with colonized with MRSA more likely to develop full-blown infections

A Johns Hopkins Children's Center study of more than 3,000 hospitalized children shows that those colonized but not sick with the antibiotic-resistant bacterium MRSA are at considerable risk for developing full-blown infections.

31 Aug 2011

Governor Perry attacked for choosing new medical treatment

Recently, the governor of Texas and presidential hopeful had a bad back treated by injecting some of his very own fat cells, after they had been cultured and treated in a laboratory. The innovative use of a patient’s own adult stem cells is showing great promise in many conditions, including damaged joints.

29 Aug 2011

Antibiotic News and Research

Further Reading

Taiwan residents to receive two month free access to The Cochrane Library

Chemical biology researchers to meet at Scientific Oktoberfest in München

Duties, role of clinical laboratory microbiologists could change significantly in the future

Study identifies genes never before linked to antibiotic resistance in enterococci

Mass. Eye and Ear receives NIAID grant to coordinate Harvard-wide Project on Antibiotic Resistance

Adding azithromycin to usual daily treatment for COPD reduces acute exacerbations by 27%

First-ever comprehensive study of species origins of nature-derived drugs

BARDA awards GlaxoSmithKline contract for development of dual-purpose broad spectrum antibiotic

GSK receives HHS' BARDA contract to support development of Gram-negative antibiotic, GSK2251052

Superbug structure deciphered

NanoLogix to move R&D operations from Cincinnati to its headquarters in Hubbard

Researchers discover novel way to increase amounts of antibiotics

Scientists sequence ten variants of E. coli O104:H4 outbreak strain across the world

New IDSA/PIDS guidelines can thwart pneumonia in children

Ancient antibiotic resistance findings leads experts to stress need to use antibiotics sparingly

MRSA ‘superbug’: Everyone at risk!

Further acne treatment studies necessary: Experts

Guatemalan Syphilis study in 1940’s violated ethical standards: US presidential commission report

Hospitalized children with colonized with MRSA more likely to develop full-blown infections

Governor Perry attacked for choosing new medical treatment

Discover how SciY empowers scientists

Why use light scattering to analyze proteins and viral vectors?

Changing the landscape of R&D to build clinical success from the ground up

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