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A TURNING POINT in the war against superbugs may have been reached with the discovery of a potent new antibiotic that shows no sign of inducing drug resistance.

The drug, teixobactin, was isolated from soil bacteria using a
revolutionary technique that may in future yield a rich harvest of
previously hidden antibiotic
compounds.

It has the ability to kill many types of harmful bacteria, including the
superbug MRSA (methicillin resistant Staphylococcus aureus), by breaking down their cell walls.

Because it targets fatty molecules in the cell wall instead of proteins it is also much less likely than most
antibiotics to induce microbial
resistance.

In tests, scientists found no evidence of bugs evolving ways to cheat death by teixobactin, which proved harmless to mammalian cells.

British experts hailed the research as a "game changer" and "very exciting".

Professor Kim Lewis, from Northeastern University in Boston, who led the US team, said:

"No resistance normally means that we discovered a new detergent, which is a molecule that will destroy the membrane of the bacterial cell but also will destroy the membranes of our cells, so these are toxic compounds.

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full article: http://m.yorkshirepost.co.uk/news/main-topics/general-news/real-gamechanger-on-superbugs-1-7038532