An
antibiotic has been modified to make it more potent against bacteria, in an
advance which researchers hope will help fight the threat of
antibiotic-resistant infections.
The
medicine, vancomycin, has been prescribed by doctors for 60 years and bacteria
are only now becoming resistant to it.
Scientists
at The Scripps Research Institute (TSRI) in the US have now modified the drug so
it works in three separate ways on bacteria, making it much harder for them to
develop resistance.
The
researchers said doctors could use the modified form of vancomycin without fear
of resistance emerging.
The
World Health Organisation warns antibiotic resistance is
one of the biggest threats to global health, food security and development, with
major diseases becoming harder to treat because the drugs used on them are
becoming less effective. The
Guardian.
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