Curing antibiotic resistance

More and more bacteria are proving resistant to today’s arsenal of antibiotics. But researchers from the University of Oklahoma, St. Louis University and University of Tennessee may have cracked the problem.

The team used a supercomputer to identify molecules in cells that disrupt bacterial proteins. They’re called efflux pumps, a major cause of antibiotic resistance. After the computer chose the most likely compounds, researchers tested them and found they worked.

TRENDPOST: By drastically reducing the time needed to find efflux-pump disruptors, this new approach can sharply reduce the time to clinical trials that could end the drug-resistance epidemic.