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KU Leuven researchers develop new antibacterial strategy that weakens bacteria

Bioscience engineers from KU Leuven in Belgium have developed a new antibacterial strategy that weakens bacteria by preventing them from cooperating. Unlike with antibiotics, there is no resistance to this strategy, because the non-resistant bacteria outnumber resistant ones.

14 Jan 2020

New bacteria-destroying technology to combat drug-resistant superbugs

Researchers have used liquid metals to develop new bacteria-destroying technology that could be the answer to the deadly problem of antibiotic resistance.

13 Jan 2020

Tackling antibiotic resistance head-on with CRISPR

With modern advances in genetic engineering occurring almost every day, the latest discovery concerns antibiotic resistance. Using the powerful gene editor CRISPR, scientists reported the development of a gene-drive system that is 100 times as efficient as other current systems at inactivating a specific bacterial gene responsible for making the bacterium antibiotic-resistant and which is present as multiple copies within the same bacterial cell.

16 Dec 2019

Scientists modify approved cancer drug to develop new antibiotic

Antibiotic-resistant bacteria are increasingly the source of deadly infections. A team of scientists from the Technical University of Munich and the Helmholtz Center for Infection Research in Braunschweig have now modified an approved cancer drug to develop an active agent against multidrug-resistant pathogens.

16 Dec 2019

New gene technology shows 100-fold efficiency in targeting antibiotic-resistant bacteria

Taking advantage of powerful advances in CRISPR gene editing, scientists at the University of California San Diego have set their sights on one of society's most formidable threats to human health.

16 Dec 2019

New antimicrobial polymer can kill bacteria resistant to common antibiotics

Researchers from Singapore-MIT Alliance for Research and Technology, MIT's research enterprise in Singapore, and Nanyang Technological University have designed an antimicrobial polymer that can kill bacteria resistant to commonly used antibiotics, including the superbug Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA).

12 Dec 2019

Yeasts derived from food can reduce multi-drug resistant fungal infections

A study by researchers in the United States and India has shown that probiotic yeasts derived from food are able to reduce the virulence of, and even prevent infections by, several types of fungi that are responsible for life-threatening infections in hospitalized and immune-compromised individuals, including the multi-drug resistant Candida auris, which was recently listed as an urgent threat by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control in its 2019 Antibiotic Resistance Threats report.

10 Dec 2019

Early adherence step in intestinal transit of Shigella discovered

The bacterial pathogen Shigella, often spread through contaminated food or water, is a leading cause of mortality in both children and older adults in the developing world.

4 Dec 2019

Hybrid antibiotics show promising results in eradicating deadly staph infections

Eradicating deadly staph using a new breed of antibiotics has revealed promising results in research released by QUT, to help overcome one of the biggest modern medical challenges.

4 Dec 2019

Researchers turn to older treatment methods for new health challenges

The last thing anyone wants during a stay in the hospital is a hospital-acquired infection. Nosocomial infections, as they are called, are on the rise as more pathogens become resistant to drugs currently available.

21 Nov 2019

C. diff puts up a winning fight against hospital disinfectants

The deadly and notoriously stubborn superbug, Clostridioides difficile (C. diff), is putting up a winning fight against hospital-grade disinfectants meant to kill it, according to results of a new study published in the Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy journal of the American Society for Microbiology.

6 Nov 2019

Faster Identification of Bacterial Infections Using Raman Spectroscopy Could Save Lives

Utilising a Renishaw Raman spectroscopy system, a team of researchers from the Czech Academy of Sciences have been testing a novel way to identify Staphylococcal bacteria, paving the way for faster diagnosis and treatment of infectious diseases.

29 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

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

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

Nanostructured surfaces can minimize bacterial adhesion

Staphylococcus aureus bacteria are one of the main causes of hospital-acquired infections. These pathogens are particularly problematic because they can form highly robust biofilms on both natural and artificial surfaces and are very difficult to remove.

10 Oct 2019

Cholera-causing bacteria steal large stretches of intact DNA to become more efficient

A new paper shows that the cholera germ is an inveterate and rapacious gene stealer, robbing other competing bacteria of up to 150 genes (over 150,000 base pairs) in a single attack. To put this in perspective, the cholera pathogen carries only about 4,000 genes altogether.

8 Oct 2019

Phage engineering gives antibacterial therapy a new lease of life

Researchers have been identifying and modifying known phages to fight against infectious bacteria.

4 Oct 2019

New study shows how fungal biofilm morphology impacts lung disease

Findings from an innovative new study led by researchers at Dartmouth's Geisel School of Medicine and published this week in Nature Microbiology reveal that the way in which human fungal pathogens form colonies can significantly impact their ability to cause disease.

23 Sep 2019

African bacterium resists almost all drugs

It looks like it’s time to pay the piper. The first extensively drug-resistant (XDR) strain of Salmonella typhimurium, called ST313 sublineage II.1, has cropped up in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). This fails to respond to any of the antibiotics that are commonly used in the DRC, except for ciprofloxacin. And to make things worse, one sample has been isolated that shows incomplete response even to this last drug.

22 Sep 2019