Wall Street Journal: Scientists discover potent antibiotic, a potential weapon against a range of diseases
The Wall Street Journal - 01/07/2015
Wall Street Journal: Scientists discover potent antibiotic, a potential weapon against a range of diseases
Scientists have discovered a powerful new antibiotic they say can kill an array of germs without the bugs easily becoming resistant to it, a potential weapon against a range of diseases.
The discovery is a rare—and much-needed—breakthrough in the quest for new antibiotics to overcome the problem of growing resistance to existing drugs. While the new compound was shown to be safe and effective in mice, scientists need to determine whether this is the case for people.
The discovery of the new class of antibiotic, called teixobactin, was reported Wednesday in the journal Nature. It was uncovered by screening 10,000 bacterial strains from soil. Teixobactin will be investigated further in animals before being tested in people.