Superbugs In Trouble After Biotech Scientists Unveil New Improved Antibiotic

The fear that antibiotic-resistant superbugs are the single biggest threat to humanity over coming years is a real one. However, the war on the superbugs may be on the verge of turning in humanity’s favour after scientists at Princeton University in the US unveiled a new ‘super antibiotic’ bacteria are unable to develop resistance against.

The Princeton team have added new compounds to their antibiotics that are described as ‘poison arrows’, because they pierce bacteria’s outer wall and destroy a substance called folate protected behind it. Folate itself is an essential building block of a microbe’s genetic material and wiping it out not only destroys the bacteria but is a method the bugs are unable to develop resistance to.

During the laboratory research the new antibiotics succeeded in killing off a particularly virulent strain of gonorrhoea that no other drugs had managed to eradicate. Gram-negative bacteria, another strain of superbug with an outer defence wall most antibiotics are unable to breach also fell prey to the new breed. The antibiotics are the first to prove effective against gram-negative bacteria in nearly 30 years.

Source: The Times

The new antibiotics use a new derivative of a compound called SCH-79797 that effectively killed bacterial cells but also wiped out human cells at roughly the same rate. The new derivative, named irresistin-16 is around 1000 times more potent against bacteria than human cells. This, the Princeton researchers, says it what makes it so promising.

With around 700,000 people a year now dying as a result of antibiotic-resistant superbugs, finding a new generation of antibiotics is a priority. Without them, some scientists have estimated annual deaths could hit ten million by 2050.

Commenting on the development, Stanford University bioengineering professor Kerywn Huang, who was not involved in the research:

“The thing that can’t be overstated is that antibiotic research has stalled over a period of many decades,” he said. “It’s rare to find a scientific field which is so well studied and yet so in need of a jolt of new energy.”

“This compound is already so useful by itself, but also people can start designing new compounds inspired by this. That’s what has made this work so exciting.”