An antibiotic from the 1940s may be the next big thing used to help defeat the scourge of the superbugs.
The 80-year-old neglected antibiotic may provide protection against multi-drug resistant bacterial infections, research suggests. Nourseothricin, a natural product made by a soil fungus contains multiple forms of a complex molecule called streptothricin.
In the 1940s its discovery generated hope for it as a powerful agent against bacteria, but nourseothricin was toxic to kidneys and it's development was dropped. Now researchers suggest better purification overcomes original concerns around this issue. Professor James Kirby of Harvard Medical School in the U.S., and his team, are looking at nourseothricin again for answers.
Once again it is amazing to see how the biodiversity in the natural world and especially amongst fungal specimens is leading the charge against the rise of the superbugs.
