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A Molecule That Can Help Antibiotics Kill Superbugs

Pneumonia Bacteria Culture Klebsiella pneumoniae are commonly found in the human gastrointestinal tract, and are often the cause of hospital- acquired infections. Wikimedia Commons A new drug compound can recharge a class of antibiotics used to fight superbug bacteria, improving the antibiotics' effectiveness 16-fold. It's another volley on the part of humans in the ongoing battle between new drugs and bacterial resistance. This new compound doesn't fight the bacteria itself - it just makes the antibacterial drugs more potent, and better able to fight the bacteria despite the bugs' resistance. The compound, developed at North Carolina State University, could help researchers fight an emerging problem with a tricky bacterial enzyme. The enzyme is called New Delhi metallo-?-lactamase, or NDM-1, and it has been found in bacterial strains around the world since its isolation in 2008. It's particularly ugly because it makes bacteria able to resist a broad range of antibiotics - including the type that are typicall

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