There is a new weapon against antibiotic-resistant bacteria: it is the molecule called cresomycin and it was designed in the laboratory with synthetic biology. That is, it has chemical characteristics that are impossible to obtain with existing means. Featured in the magazine Sciencethe molecule was obtained from research coordinated by Harvard University, with the chemist’s group Andrew Myers and the first author of the study is Kelvin Wu.
Discovering new antibiotics, thanks to AI by Anna Lisa Bonfranceschi 04 January 2024
In initial tests conducted in test tubes and on animals, cresomycin proved effective against many strains of antibiotic-resistant bacteria, such as Staphylococcus aureus e Pseudomonas aeruginosa. “We do not yet know whether cresomycin and substances similar to it are safe and effective in humans – observes Myers – our results show inhibitory activity significantly greater than that of currently available antibiotics against a long list of strains of pathogenic bacteria that kill over a million people every year” Antibiotic resistance: here are the new weapons against superbugs by Noemi Penna 05 January 2024 The new molecule demonstrates in particular a greater ability to bind to ribosomes, the cellular structures that control protein synthesis. This is a common feature of many other antibiotics, but some bacteria have developed protective mechanisms that prevent traditional drugs from working. To overcome the problem, the researchers gave the molecule a rigid shape and a modular structure, similar to that of building blocks: a strategy that allows synthetic biology to obtain and experiment with hundreds of compounds, significantly accelerating the process of discovery of drugs. From the depths of the sea, the possible antibiotics of the future by Sandro Iannaccone 22 January 2024 In the case of cresomycin, the rigid structure allows the molecule to bind more easily to the ribosomes of superbacteria and these in turn have greater difficulty in breaking the bond with the molecule. Supported by the National Institutes of Health and the National Science Foundation of the United States, the research is funded with 1.2 million dollars from the Combating antibiotic-resistant bacteria biopharmaceutical accelerator, the non-profit partnership dedicated to antibacterial drug research, based at Boston University. Subjects