Antibiotic News and Research

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

Study uses baker's yeast to show how genes interact to influence a surprising cellular outcome

Most diseases are complex--caused by faults in multiple genes--but studying how combinations of different genetic variants affect cellular traits is challenging.

23 Oct 2019

Lifestyle of bacteria determines how they evolve antibiotic resistance

How bacteria live -- whether as independent cells or in a communal biofilm -- determines how they evolve antibiotic resistance, which could lead to more personalized approaches to antimicrobial therapy and infection control.

23 Oct 2019

Half the drugs in use damage gut bacteria, says new study

A startling presentation at UEG Week 2019, in Barcelona, reveals that the gut microbiome is at high risk for damage each time we use a drug from one or more of 18 commonly used groups. The effects may range from changes in the relative proportions of different beneficial and potentially harmful species to alterations in the cellular metabolism of the bacteria themselves.

23 Oct 2019

Scientists take new step toward the goal of growing cell-based meat for human consumption

A team of Tufts University-led researchers exploring the development of cultured meat found that the addition of the iron-carrying protein myoglobin improves the growth, texture and color of bovine muscle grown from cells in culture.

22 Oct 2019

E. coli bacteria study may provide clues about drug resistance

Swapping a single amino acid in a simple bacterial protein changes its structure and function, revealing the effects of complex gene evolution, finds a new study published in the journal eLife.

22 Oct 2019

Antibiotic treatment can cause transient and long-term disruption of gut microbes

Trillions of microbes in the intestine aid human health, including digestion of breast milk, breaking down fiber and helping control the immune system.

22 Oct 2019

Antibiotic resistance doubles in just two decades

Antibiotic resistance poses a grave challenge to many previously curable infectious diseases. At present, antibiotic resistance is proving to increase at a much faster rate compared to the development of new therapies.

21 Oct 2019

Discovery about DNA-reeling bacteria can help inform strategies to stop bacterial infection

A new study from Indiana University has revealed a previously unknown role a protein plays in helping bacteria reel in DNA in their environment -- like a fisherman pulling up a catch from the ocean.

21 Oct 2019

Researchers identify new TB enzyme target to help fight deadly infection

Researchers have found a crucial enzyme in tuberculosis (TB) to target, allowing the development of new treatments to help fight against the disease's drug resistance.

18 Oct 2019

Raw pet food a risk for humans and animals

The team wrote, “Feeding pets raw meat-based diets (RMBDs) has become increasingly popular but may constitute a risk due to the contamination with pathogenic and antimicrobial-resistant (AMR) bacteria.”

17 Oct 2019

Novel antibiotic-free approach to tackle superbugs

Scientists have uncovered a novel antibiotic-free approach that could help prevent and treat one of the most widespread bacterial pathogens, using nanocapsules made of natural ingredients.

17 Oct 2019

Electronic medical record system may improve efforts to prevent antibiotic drug resistance

Adapting features of the electronic medical record system used by doctors in caring for their patients may improve efforts to prevent antibiotic drug resistance, according to Penn State research.

17 Oct 2019

UA researcher focuses on preventing health-care-associated infections

On any given day in the United States, about 1 in 31 hospital patients has at least one health-care-associated infection, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

16 Oct 2019

Nanomeshes could be effective drug delivery system for antibiotics

The fight against global antibiotic resistance has taken a major step forward with scientists discovering a concept for fabricating nanomeshes as an effective drug delivery system for antibiotics.

16 Oct 2019

Syphilis rates in patients with kidney failure found to be greater than general population

Syphilis rates, like other sexually transmitted disease rates in the United States, are soaring, and the first known study to examine syphilis rates in patients with kidney failure found an incidence greater than three times that of the general population.

16 Oct 2019

Glycans in mucus are responsible for microbe-taming, study reveals

More than 200 square meters of our bodies -- including the digestive tract, lungs, and urinary tract -- are lined with mucus. In recent years, scientists have found some evidence that mucus is not just a physical barrier that traps bacteria and viruses, but it can also disarm pathogens and prevent them from causing infections.

14 Oct 2019

'Tricked' bacteria open door to new antimicrobial therapies

Scientists have developed a new technique to trick bacteria into revealing hundreds of holes in their cell walls, opening the door for drugs that destroy bacteria’s cells.

14 Oct 2019

Genetic oscillator captures changes in gut microbiome growth patterns

For all the attention the human microbiome has been getting over the last few years, one aspect of such research rarely makes headlines: the difficulty of observing how it changes over time in response to various stimuli.

11 Oct 2019

Combination drug appears to improve lung health in patients with cystic fibrosis, but with caveats

In adolescent and adult patients with cystic fibrosis taking lumacaftor-ivacaftor (ORKAMBI), the combination drug appears to improve lung function and body weight and reduce the need for intravenous antibiotic treatment, according to a French study published online in the American Thoracic Society's American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine.

11 Oct 2019

New liquid-cell technology provides first 3D view of life’s processes

A new liquid-cell technology allows scientists to see biological materials and systems in three dimensions under an electron microscope (EM), according to researchers at Penn State, Virginia Tech and Protochips Inc.

10 Oct 2019