Scientists have developed “Transformer” antibiotics to fight drug-resistant superbugs; schematic diagram. (taken from CSHL official website)
[Compiled by Chen Chengliang/Comprehensive Report]After years of extensive use of antibiotics, bacteria have developed strong drug resistance, making it increasingly difficult to develop new antibiotics. However, scientists have developed a “transformer” antibiotic that can change shape by rearranging atoms to fight these drug-resistant superbugs!
Currently, in the face of superbugs such as “Staphylococcus aureus” and “Vancomycin-resistant Enterococcus” (VRE), common bactericidal drugs can be said to have no effect at all, and the World Health Organization (WHO) has also listed antibiotic resistance It is one of the top 10 public health threats in the world. Each year, drug-resistant bacteria and fungi infect nearly 3 million people in the United States alone, resulting in approximately 35,000 deaths.
According to “SciTechDaily”, Professor John E. Moses of Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory (CSHL) in the United States has developed an innovative antibiotic that can change its shape by rearranging its atoms, thereby effectively dealing with drug-resistant superbugs. The research results were published in the new issue of “Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America” (PNAS USA).
Moses came up with the idea of using shapeshifting antibiotics while observing tanks during a military training exercise. He learned of a fluid molecule called bullvalene whose atoms swap places, giving it an ever-changing shape with more than a million possible configurations.
Several types of bacteria, including “vancomycin-resistant enterococcus”, have developed resistance to the powerful antibiotic vancomycin. Moses believes that the antibacterial properties of the drug can be improved by combining the drug with bovine.
Moses’ team used the Nobel Prize-winning “Click Chemistry” technology to create a new antibiotic with two vancomycin “warheads” and a fluctuating “Navalene” center.
When the researchers gave the drug to wax moth larvae infected with vancomycin-resistant enterococci, they found that the proteobiotic was more effective than vancomycin at clearing the deadly infection. In addition, the bacteria did not develop resistance to the new antibiotics.
Researchers could use “keystroke chemistry” and shape-shifting antibiotics to create a host of new drugs, Moses explained. This anti-infection weapon may even become the key to the survival and evolution of species. “If we can invent molecules that determine life and death, it will be the greatest achievement in history.”
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