A worldwide hunt by researchers is turning up multiple cases of a new superbug gene, including here in Canada, renewing worries about the spread of drug-resistant bacteria and prompting calls for global action to reduce the use of antibiotics in livestock.
Source: The Globe and Mail
Antibiotic resistant superbug →
Scientists have discovered a new superbug gene that is resistant to the powerful antibiotic, colistin a drug often used as a last resort. Experts say the superbug is no match for today’s modern medicine. 3 cases of the gene, known as MCR-1 were discovered in Ontario. The science community is calling for better regulation of antibiotics.
Source: CHCH TV
MCR-1 gene that makes bacteria resistant to powerful antibiotics found in Canada →
TORONTO -- The discovery that a gene which turns some bacteria into antibiotic-resistant superbugs has been in Canada for at least five years has scientists wondering when it first emerged and how to stop its spread.
Source: CTV News
‘Disturbing’ drug-resistant superbug gene has been detected in Canada →
The alarming drug-resistance gene MCR-1 that was first detected in China in November has been found in meat sold in Ontario in 2010, the Star has learned. The gene grants bacteria like E. coli resistance to colistin, a powerful antibiotic of last resort.
Source: The Toronto Star
A radically simple idea may open the door to a new world of antibiotics →
BOSTON — Slava Epstein works in aggressively low-tech quarters at Northeastern University. You might expect otherwise, given the extraordinary work that he and his colleagues are doing, discovering new kinds of antibiotics that are fundamentally different than the ones doctors prescribe today.
Source: STAT News
Riboswitch Flip Kills Bacteria →
Researchers at the pharmaceutical company Merck have identified a new bacteria-killing compound with an unusual target—an RNA regulatory structure called a riboswitch. The team used its drug, described in Nature today (September 30), to successfully reduce an experimental bacterial infection in mice, suggesting that the molecule could lead to the creation of a new antibiotic.
Source: The Scientist
The age of infection →
Meet the iChip, a plastic block that helped scientists discover a new antibiotic that kills superbugs. Will it be enough to save humankind from the coming bacterial apocalypse?
Source: Foreign Policy Magazine
Antibiotic resistance: the race to stop the 'silent tsunami' facing modern medicine →
Off the coast of California, nearly 20,000 feet below the surface of the Pacific Ocean, scientists from the San Diego Institute of Oceaneography are collecting samples of marine life from the ocean floor. At first glance, these small clumps of sediment may appear nothing special, but the micro-organisms which lie within may one day provide an answer to one of the most urgent issues in modern healthcare: the global antibiotic resistance pandemic.
Source: The Guardian
Mining the microbial dark matter →
The first time Robert Heinzen tried to get Coxiella burnetii to grow by itself, he failed miserably. The bacterium, which causes an influenza-like illness called Q fever, normally divides only inside the cells it infects — forcing researchers to grow it in mammalian tissue and hampering their efforts to investigate the microbe. When Heinzen tried to find a different way to culture it during his time as a postdoc in the early 1990s, he emerged with only half a book of scribbled notes.
Source: Nature
Canadians at risk from drug-resistant organisms, auditor general says →
OTTAWA—A federal watchdog’s warning that Ottawa is not doing enough to contain the spread of drug-resistant organisms is “long overdue,” say experts who have been urging action for years.
Source: The Toronto Star
Medical researchers fear new funding protocol would hurt 'discovery science' →
Canada’s medical researchers say they’re worried the agency that pays them $1 billion a year is picking short-term projects over the longer, less-predictable work that could have even payoff, but longer-term payoff.
Source: Ottawa Citizen
Ancient treatment for eye infections could be cure for superbugs →
Long before there was modern medicine, ancient cures were concocted for all sorts of ailments. Some worked, but many didn’t. So when researchers in the U.K. revived a 1,000-year-old, revolting recipe to cure eye infections, they were amazed at what it could do. Stuart Greer reports on an old medicine providing new hope to cure a modern-day superbug.
Source: Global News
Scientists Hit Antibiotic Pay Dirt Growing Finicky Bacteria In Lab →
Scientists say they have discovered a natural compound from bacteria that may prove to be a potent new antibiotic. This news comes at a time when many current antibiotics are losing their oomph — germs become resistant to them.
Source: NPR
Promising new antibiotic found in soil from Maine field →
Antibiotic discovery could relieve growing bacterial resistance →
The discovery of a new antibiotic capable of killing some disease-causing bacteria is raising hopes for scientists struggling to overcome growing antibiotic resistance.
Source: CBC News