The evolution of superbug which is immune to most antibiotics has the medical community worried sick. However there is finally some good news, a previously uncultured bacterium, Eleftheria terrae, makes teixobactin, a new antibiotic
It is an unusual method of making antibiotics and could fill in the gap of new antibiotics which are urgently needed for replacing the existing antibiotics which are getting defunct and useless.
The method involves extracting drugs from the bacteria residing in dirt and has yielded a powerful new antibiotic teixobactin.
The new drug has already been tested in Mice and cured severe infections without serious side effects. The mode of action of the drug is unique that there is very little chance of any development of resistance by pathogens against the drug. The drug will be tested in humans in about two years according to Kim Lewis, the senior author of the article and director of the Antimicrobial Discovery Center at Northeastern University in Boston. The process used to prepare the new drug can open up a trove of natural compounds which can fight infections and cancer.