Microbiology nerd
mcr-1 mediated resistance to colistin could be reliant on zinc ions, as a new study seems to suggest. The paper, which was published on the 6th January 2017 in Nature, gives us the first solid evidence for how mcr-1 mediated colistin resistance occurs. This research follows previous work which highlighted that mcr-1 is the first … Read more
New research has shown that a nanomaterial composed of carbon ‘dots’ could be effectively used in the fight against MRSA. The work, which was carried out by scientists at Shiraz University of Medical Sciences and Islamic Azad University, revealed that carbon dots, or c-dots, are capable of killing both wild-type Staphylococcus aureus and their methicillin-resistant … Read more
A recent study has given evidence to suggest that a popular antimicrobial additive plays a part in inducing bacterial tolerance to some of our most powerful antibiotics. The research, which was carried out by microbiologists at Washington University, Corey Westfall and Petra Levin and is still in the peer-review stage of publication, showed that bacteria … Read more
Researchers have developed an antimicrobial ‘cloak’ which could play a key role in helping to protect us from the build-up of dangerous microbial biofilms. In their paper published on the 5th of December in Scientific Reports the team found that an agar hydrogel, containing graphene-oxide and laser printed to mimic the shell surface of the … Read more
We may have found a new ally in the fight against antibiotic resistance… though it might not be what you’d expect. Researchers have found exciting evidence to suggest that a predatory bacteria, Bdellovibro bacteriovirus, could be used to deal with dangerous bacterial infections as a ‘living antibiotic’. The study, published on the 23rd November in … Read more
Polluted air could be a major way for resistance-allowing genes to be spread across bacteria, as researchers have determined using air samples taken from smog in Beijing. Joakim Larsson, director of the University of Gothenburg’s Centre for Antibiotic Resistance Research, and his team analysed 864 DNA samples from a range of human, animal and environmental … Read more
Oxacillin, a β-lactam antibiotic, can reduce the virulence of MRSA and open it up to attack from the host immune system and other antibiotics, new research has shown. MRSA (Methicillin Resistant Staphylococcus aureus) is one of the most dangerous pathogens affecting the world at the moment, with 20% of infected patients dying from systemic infections … Read more
A research team has found that when the bacteria Klebsiella pneumoniae become resistant to chlorhexidine it can also grant them resistance to colistin, a ‘last-line’ antibiotic. The potential for an organism to become resistant to an antibiotic as a result of its resistance against a biocide has been debated in the past, but this is … Read more