Novel Methods to Address Antimicrobial Resistance

There are some signals that alternative antimicrobial drugs could be emerging. This is a slow process requiring the testing of new molecules as potential antibiotics. ne main centre of analysis is the laboratory of Kenneth Keiler (from Penn State University, USA). The research team here has examined 663,000 different molecules against a strain of Escherichia coli bacteria. The researchers have monitored how the chemicals affect the growth and survival of the bacterium. From this, forty-six potential chemicals have been selected. Each of the selected molecules targets the protein synthesis in bacteria and disrupts the process. This results in the bacterium being unable to replicate. By halting bacterial growth, infection is unable to spread.

Read about these and other innovations in a special editorial in SOJ Microbiology & Infectious Diseases here.

Posted by Tim Sandle