Kim Lewis

The molecule was found in soil samples collected from a laboratory technician’s garden. The discovery shows that “there is terrifically interesting stuff hiding in plain sight”, says Kim Lewis, a microbiologist at Northeastern University in Boston, Massachusetts, who was not involved in the research. “Kudos to them that they knew what to look for.”

The new research is at a very early stage, but it is an important step to understanding and treating the disease, said Kim Lewis, a Lyme expert and a professor of biology at Northeastern University in Boston.

“Nobody really cared about that compound ever since because it’s very weak against regular bacteria,” says Prof. Kim Lewis, of Northeastern University College of Science, Boston, MA, and co-lead author of the present study. “What we discovered is that, yeah, it is very weak against regular pathogens, but exceptionally potent against spirochetes.”

Researchers at the Northeastern University in Boston and the University of Oklahoma, both US, have identified an antibiotic that may not only work to cure Lyme disease but may also help eradicate its occurrence from the environment.

Lyme disease may eventually be a thing of the past, says Kim Lewis, professor of biology and director of the Antimicrobial Discovery Center at Northeastern University in the U.S. city of Boston.

Lyme disease may eventually be a thing of the past, says Kim Lewis, professor of biology and director of the Antimicrobial Discovery Center at Northeastern University in the US city of Boston.

To identify one that would target Borreliella burgdorferi, which causes Lyme, Kim Lewis at Northeastern University in Boston, Massachusetts, and his colleagues screened hundreds of strains of soil bacteria.