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Deep sea expedition could uncover new type of medicine that puts an end to antibiotic resistance
A deep sea expedition could uncover a secret that medicine desperately needs, a new strain of antibiotics. Compounds produced by bacteria living in the sea could help in the fight against antibiotic resistance, providing a new option for millions worldwide.
Analysis of samples from an expedition to the Arctic Ocean suggests that marine microbes (tiny living things) could be a promising source of a totally new type of antibiotic.
Research on new type of antibiotics uncovered in deep sea expedition
Antibiotics are�used to treat or prevent some types of bacterial infections, and they work by killing bacteria or preventing them from spreading, NHS explains. However, antibiotics do not work for everything and antibiotic resistance can occur when bacteria changes and can survive or grow despite antibiotics previously being effective.
Antibiotic resistance is dangerous and can have serious consequences. This is a major public health concern because it can make infections difficult or impossible to treat.
An arctic expedition has uncovered deep-sea microbes that may harbor the next generation of antibiotics, and the findings were recently published in the journal�Frontiers in Microbiology.
Scientists discovered substances made by actinobacteria can stop harmful bacteria from growing and prevent them from causing disease.
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Around 70% of existing antibiotics�were discovered in actinobacteria, most of whom live in soil on land. So the new drugs are urgently needed, if they can prevent resistance.
Sea organisms could be the answer
Researchers looked to sea-dwelling (organisms that live in the ocean) for new antibiotics, because they are thought to produce a�more chemically diverse�array of compounds due to the selective pressure created by the extreme fluctuations under the waves. These tend to be pressure, temperature, salt concentrations and light levels that occur in marine environments.
In the new study, scientists analyzed hundreds of unknown compounds that had been extracted from actinobacteria living inside invertebrates, collected during an expedition to the Arctic Ocean in 2020.
They specifically tested how the compounds affected a pathogenic type of E. coli called enteropathogenic E. coli (EPEC) – bacteria that infect intestinal cells and cause severe diarrhea – looking at whether compounds produced by four species of actinobacteria could stop EPEC bacteria from infecting lab-grown cells.
The compounds stopped EPEC bacteria from attaching to the cell surface, but a lot more work must be done before either of these compounds could be brought to market
A�statement revealed the�Rhodococcus�compound could be a more promising candidate for a new antibiotic.
