Antibiotics

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, Volume 121, Issue 52, December 2024. SignificanceGiven the rising levels of antibiotic resistance, we need a better understanding of how to use antibiotics sustainably. While most current work on treatment strategies to reduce resistance focuses on chromosomal resistance, we focus on plasmid...Read More

A newly developed tool that harnesses computer vision and artificial intelligence (AI) may help clinicians rapidly evaluate placentas at birth, potentially improving neonatal and maternal care, according to new research from scientists at Northwestern Medicine and Penn State. The study, which was published Dec. 13 in the print edition of…

Bacteriophages — "phages," for short — are viruses that attack bacteria. Some scientists hope to use them to cure bacterial infections. (Image credit: SCIEPRO/SCIENCE PHOTO LIBRARY via Getty Images) The first antibiotics made once-deadly infections curable, and their early developers were lauded with a Nobel . But these miracle drugs…

One Size Fits None I was struck by Simon Lewsen’s article “The Accommodation Problem” (September/October). Are universities enabling students to avoid the essential challenges of learning, or are universities finally adapting to inclusive learning? As a high school teacher, I see this struggle as being the result of students carrying…

Critical Care > Sepsis — Duration of antibiotic treatment about a day shorter than usual in the ICU by Nicole Lou, Senior Staff Writer, MedPage Today December 9, 2024 Last Updated December 10, 2024 For critically ill patients on antibiotics for suspected sepsis, monitoring one biomarker safely shortened the course…

Bacteria modify their ribosomes when exposed to widely used antibiotics, according to research published today in Nature Communications. The subtle changes might be enough to alter the binding site of drug targets and constitute a possible new mechanism of antibiotic resistance. Escherichia coli is a common bacterium which is often…

A new study from the Centre for Genomic Regulation (CRG) in Barcelona reveals that bacteria can modify their ribosomes when exposed to commonly used antibiotics, potentially contributing to antibiotic resistance. These subtle changes could alter the drug-binding sites on ribosomes, making antibiotics less effective. The study focused on *Escherichia coli*…

Possible cause of killing upon membrane potential dissipation. Credit: Nature Communications (2024). DOI: 10.1038/s41467-024-51347-0 In addition to the urgent need for new antibiotics, alternative strategies are required to tackle the problem of antibiotic resistance. Michaela Wenzel, Associate Professor at Chalmers University of Technology, is investigating bacterial defenses against external stress…

The discovery of antibiotics is one of the greatest medical breakthroughs of the 20th century. Before antibiotics, childbirth, a urinary tract infection, or a simple cut could lead to death from infection. Antibiotics, a type of antimicrobial, have made many modern medical procedures possible, and now the global healthcare system…

Measles, mumps, and polio are supposed to be diseases of the past. In the early to mid-20th century, scientists developed vaccines that effectively eliminated the risk of anyone getting sick or dying from illnesses that had killed millions over millennia of human history. Vaccines, alongside sanitized water and antibiotics, have…