A newly discovered antibiotic might prove irresistible to bacteria.
Every time an antibiotic is used, bacteria are getting to know it a little better. And eventually, they develop methods to fight it. But because of its unique method of action, this new antibiotic could keep working for longer than any other before bacteria even started to get wise — maybe even longer than 30 years.
That’s the promise of a study published Wednesday in Nature. But the antibiotic, called Teixobactin, is still a couple years away from human trials.
Along with his colleagues and the help of a biotech startup called NovaBiotic Pharmaceuticals, Northeastern University professor Kim Lewis tapped into a largely unexplored treasure trove of antimicrobials: dirt.
Dirt from a grassy field in Maine, to be specific.
Lewis and his colleagues sandwiched soil between two semi-permeable membranes, effectively tricking soil microbes into growing in a “natural” environment that was actually a lab culture.
Among the 10,000 organisms and 25 antibiotics they grew in this type of culturing method is Teixobactin. It successfully obliterated MRSA and drug-resistant TB in cell cultures and in mice, and did so without any signs that the bacteria might become resistant to it. And, importantly, it did so without killing the mice.
