Researchers may have made some headway in the fight against antimicrobial resistance. A paper published online in Nature today (abstract only unless you’re a subscriber) discusses a new method to grow bacteria that have previously been uncultivable. In doing so, researchers have discovered a new antibiotic they’re calling teixobactin that is active against gram-positive organisms (specifically, a precursor of peptidoglycan present in the cell wall). Initial tests suggest bacteria can’t form a resistance to this mode of action.
Maybe there’s something to the expression “throw some dirt on it and get back in the game” after all.
NPR and the Washington Post discuss this paper and its findings today, as well. It’s too soon to be excited, but I admit I’m cautiously optimistic.
–Kelly Swails, MT(ASCP), is a laboratory professional, recovering microbiologist, and web editor for Lab Medicine.
