Antibiotic to kill Superbugs
New drug will kill bacteria on which antibiotics are ineffective; 7 Million lives will be saved
The discovery of a new antibiotic drug could save nearly 7 million lives lost to superbugs every year. Superbugs are bacteria that have become ineffective due to the excessive or incorrect use of antibiotics.
Bacteria build up immunity. British scientists have now discovered an antibiotic that kills superbugs in a research. Research from the University of Liverpool has revealed that this drug has killed superbugs in mice without harming any healthy tissue.
10 Million People may die by 2050
It is a synthetic form of tixobactin, the first antibiotic discovered in several decades. During Covid, many types of antibiotics were given to people, which have no effect on the virus. Due to this the number of people who lost their lives to superbugs has increased. A UK government commission has estimated that by 2050, superbugs could kill another 10 million people each year.
Successful in killing many bacteria
Tixobactin was successful in killing the MRSA superbug in mice, on which many antibiotics have proved ineffective so far. It has also been successful in killing many bacteria found in humans. It will be used as a last defense against superbugs. Tixobectin can be stored at room temperature. Due to this, it can be easily sent all over the world.
Antibiotic resistance is spreading higher than the introduction of new compounds into clinical practice, causing a public health crisis. Most antibiotics were produced by screening soil microorganisms, but this limited resource of cultivable bacteria was overmined by the 1960s. Synthetic approaches to produce antibiotics have been unable to replace this platform. Uncultured bacteria make up approximately 99% of all species in external environments, and are an untapped source of new antibiotics. Teixobactin inhibits cell wall synthesis by binding to a highly conserved motif of lipid II and lipid III (precursor of cell wall teichoic acid). The properties of this compound suggest a path towards developing antibiotics that are likely to avoid development of resistance.
In 2015, this drug was discovered in the US state of Maine. Then the general public was not informed about it because its production was very expensive. Now scientists have succeeded in making its synthetic form at 2000 times less cost. Now tixobactin can be made in large quantities.
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