Microbiology nerd
Enjoy maple syrup with your pancakes? An ongoing study suggests that the popular kitchen companion contains extracts which could boost the power of antibiotics, significantly reducing the amount of drug needed to kill infectious bacteria. On the 2nd April, Dr. Nathalie Tufenkji presented the latest information on the study at the ‘253rd National Meeting & Exposition … Read more
A structure known as chlorin e6 (Ce6) could be used in photodynamic inactivation (PDI) therapy to protect patient’s eyes from the dangerous effects of Pseudomonas aeruginosa keratitis, new research has shown. The paper, which was published on 15th March 2017 in Nature Scientific Reports, showed that when the eyes of mice were infected with multi-drug … Read more
A new dual therapy approach to fight multi-drug resistant gram-negative bacteria has been uncovered – and, interestingly, it involves an existing antifungal and antiprotozoal drug. Dr. Eric Brown, professor of biochemistry at McMaster University, and his team showed that pentamidine, a drug normally used to treat protozoan and fungal infections, is effective against drug-resistant gram-negative bacteria when … Read more
Nursing homes may be infrequently applying isolation precautions to prevent the spread of infections caused by multi-drug resistant organisms (MDRO), a recent study suggests. The study, which was published on the 17th February 2017 in The Journal of the American Geriatrics Society, was carried out at Columbia University School of Nursing in an attempt to … Read more
The World Health Organisation (WHO) has published a list of the 12 bacterial families against which new antibiotics are desperately needed. Unveiling the list on the 27th February 2017, WHO hopes that this list will spur the research and development of new antibiotics at a time when the drugs we’ve come to rely on to … Read more
New research has highlighted a gene, NucS, which can prevent tuberculosis-causing bacteria from mutating into antibiotic resistant strains. The work was carried out by scientists from the University of Sussex, UK, and the Centro Nacional de Biotechnologia, Madrid, and was published on the 27th January 2017 in Nature Communications. NucS is a gene which is … Read more
Scientists have discovered a novel lysin which could be a valuable new tool in the fight against MRSA. The paper, which was published on January 9th in Nature, highlighted a novel chimeric lysin, called ClyF, which showed promising activity against MRSA both in vitro and in murine infection models, in vivo. From a library of … 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
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
I’ve got some bad news for you. Something bad is coming. Something really, really, really bad… and it’s coming for you. It’s coming for me, for your friends and family. In fact, it’s coming for everyone on this planet. I’m talking about antimicrobial resistance and it’s going to make us all suffer. Let’s back it … Read more