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posted by martyb on Sunday June 07 2020, @01:18PM   Printer-friendly
from the good-news-for-a-change dept.

'Poisoned arrow' defeats antibiotic-resistant bacteria: A dual-mechanism antibiotic kills Gram-negative bacteria and avoids drug resistance (SD)

Poison is lethal all on its own — as are arrows — but their combination is greater than the sum of their parts. A weapon that simultaneously attacks from within and without can take down even the strongest opponents, from E. coli to MRSA (methicillin resistant Staphylococcus aureus).

A team of Princeton researchers reported today [DOI: 10.1016/j.cell.2020.05.005] [DX] in the journal Cell that they have found a compound, SCH-79797, that can simultaneously puncture bacterial walls and destroy folate within their cells — while being immune to antibiotic resistance.

[...] "This is the first antibiotic that can target Gram-positives and Gram-negatives without resistance," said Zemer Gitai, Princeton's Edwin Grant Conklin Professor of Biology and the senior author on the paper. "From a 'Why it's useful' perspective, that's the crux. But what we're most excited about as scientists is something we've discovered about how this antibiotic works — attacking via two different mechanisms within one molecule — that we are hoping is generalizable, leading to better antibiotics — and new types of antibiotics — in the future."

[...] To prove its resistance to resistance, Martin tried endless different assays and methods, none of which revealed a particle of resistance to the SCH compound. Finally, he tried brute force: for 25 days, he "serially passaged" it, meaning that he exposed bacteria to the drug over and over and over again. Since bacteria take about 20 minutes per generation, the germs had millions of chances to evolve resistance — but they didn't. To check their methods, the team also serially passaged other antibiotics (novobiocin, trimethoprim, nisin and gentamicin) and quickly bred resistance to them.

Proving a negative is technically impossible, so the researchers use phrases like "undetectably-low resistance frequencies" and "no detectable resistance," but the upshot is that SCH-79797 is irresistible — hence the name they gave to its derivative compounds, Irresistin.

Journal Reference:
James K. Martin, Joseph P. Sheehan, Benjamin P. Bratton, et al. A Dual-Mechanism Antibiotic Kills Gram-Negative Bacteria and Avoids Drug Resistance. Cell, 2020; DOI: 10.1016/j.cell.2020.05.005


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  • (Score: 3, Informative) by takyon on Sunday June 07 2020, @01:47PM (5 children)

    by takyon (881) <reversethis-{gro ... s} {ta} {noykat}> on Sunday June 07 2020, @01:47PM (#1004496) Journal

    It needs to be mixed with ammonia for extra effectiveness.

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  • (Score: 3, Touché) by The Mighty Buzzard on Sunday June 07 2020, @02:01PM (1 child)

    Nah, hydrogen peroxide. That produces lots of oxygen. Has to be good for the lungs if that's the case, yeah?

    --
    My rights don't end where your fear begins.
    • (Score: 1, Informative) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday June 07 2020, @07:03PM

      by Anonymous Coward on Sunday June 07 2020, @07:03PM (#1004589)

      Nah, hydrogen peroxide. That produces lots of oxygen. Has to be good for the lungs if that's the case, yeah?

      No. No. No. Not hydrogen peroxide! Sodium hydroxide. I know, it's easy to confuse them, with the whole 'oxide' thing, but sodium hydroxide has wonderful cleaning and disinfecting [wikipedia.org] properties. It's definitely the way to go.

      Aspirate some today!

  • (Score: -1, Troll) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday June 07 2020, @02:03PM (2 children)

    by Anonymous Coward on Sunday June 07 2020, @02:03PM (#1004504)

    Don't get too fucking fancy with all your chemicals and la-de-dah else you might find some tear gas heading your way. In fact, that might be just what you need.

    • (Score: 4, Funny) by anubi on Sunday June 07 2020, @11:38PM (1 child)

      by anubi (2828) on Sunday June 07 2020, @11:38PM (#1004659) Journal

      I hope anyone reading these comments are at least somewhat technically literate.

      This is a quite funny parody thread, as taking these advisories literally will have severe consequences.

      If you popped into here from a search engine and are not technically literate, following the advice given here is about the worst thing anyone could do, and that is what makes them funny.

      Now, take two aspirin in a glass of oxidane and call me in the morning.

      --
      "Prove all things; hold fast that which is good." [KJV: I Thessalonians 5:21]
      • (Score: 1, Funny) by Anonymous Coward on Monday June 08 2020, @12:50AM

        by Anonymous Coward on Monday June 08 2020, @12:50AM (#1004676)

        Pipe down. Let the good Lord's work take its course.

        It's for the good of us all.

        In the long run.