Superbugs

Picking up where traditional antibiotics are failing, two natural compounds have been shown effective in killing antibiotic-resistant bacteria in wastewater. The finding could point towards a natural way to defeat the increasingly undefeatable bugs.

A. baumannii bacteria is a nasty antibiotic-resistant bug that thrives in hospitals, where it takes advantage of weakened immune systems. Researchers have now found the bacteria's secret weapon and have ideas on how to use it for good.

Science's war against the super-small and, sometimes, super-deadly bacteria that have evolved to resist destruction by antibiotics may have just enlisted new, unlikely allies: invertebrate creatures living in the frigid depths of the Arctic Ocean.

Antibiotic-resistant bacteria are poised to become a global health concern. In the race to develop new weapons, scientists have created a new family of antibacterial polymers that can kill 'superbugs' in a way they can't evolve resistance to.

Researchers have derived an antibiotic from microbes living in the sandy soil of North Carolina. Because it works completely differently than others before it, clovibactin might help turn the tide in the battle against today's nastiest superbugs.

Decades of work has paid off, with scientists developing a potent new synthetic molecule that swiftly knocked out 285 strains of bacteria it was tested on, setting it up as a valuable ally in our fight against a looming superbug infection crisis.

We’re losing the arms race against bacteria as they increasingly develop resistance to our best drugs. Now scientists have identified a new class of molecules that disable a major superbug weapon, which could make existing antibiotics effective again.

A novel antibiotic combo has proven promising in a clinical trial for treating an often-deadly form of pneumonia. The experimental drug was found to be at least as effective in preventing death as the current standard, but with far milder side effects.

They look like they don't have a care in the world - and, as far as their health goes, they may not. Scientists believe the raging organism party in their fur makes them infection-resistant, and could be the key to new superbug-fighting antibiotics.

Bacteria are fast developing resistance to our antibiotics, potentially ushering in a new “dark age of medicine” where basic infections become lethal again. Now scientists have developed self-assembling “nanonets” that can trap and kill superbugs.

Bacteria are fast developing resistance to our best drugs, leaving us poised on the edge of a major health crisis. But a new antibiotic has shown promise against several key “superbugs,” while minimizing damage against good bacteria in the body.

Bacteria are great at resisting antibiotics, but they can’t fight tiny drills ripping them open. Researchers have now demonstrated next-generation molecular drills that are activated by blue light and could revolutionize the fight against superbugs.