New approach to reduce antibiotic resistance

Researchers have developed a novel mathematical method inspired by Darwinian evolution to use current antibiotics to eliminate or reduce the development of antibiotic-resistant bacteria.

In developing a novel mathematical approach to analyze antibiotic resistance, a research group have shown that the ability of the bacterium E. coli to survive in antibiotics could be either promoted or hindered depending on the sequence of antibiotics given. They discovered that approximately 70 percent of different sequences of 2 to 4 antibiotics lead to resistance to the final drug.

For further details see:

Daniel Nichol, Peter Jeavons, Alexander G. Fletcher, Robert A. Bonomo, Philip K. Maini, Jerome L. Paul, Robert A. Gatenby, Alexander R.A. Anderson, Jacob G. Scott. Steering Evolution with Sequential Therapy to Prevent the Emergence of Bacterial Antibiotic Resistance. PLOS Computational Biology, 2015; 11 (9): e1004493 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pcbi.1004493

Posted by Tim Sandle