Zee Media Bureau/Irengbam Jenny
New Delhi: Scientists claim to have discovered a new antibiotic named teixobactin that could wipe out many diseases like MRSA to Tuberculosis (TB).
Tests have shown that the antibiotic could rapidly cure many fatal diseases. The drug was also found to be working well against hard-to-treat resistant bacteria.
Although the antibiotic is still yet to be subjected to trials in humans, scientists hope that it will one day be able to treat drug-resistant infections. It also normally requires a combination of drugs that can have adverse side effects.
The new drug was discovered after British, German and US scientists went back to basics and studied bacteria from a grassy field in Maine in the US.
Kim Lewis, a professor at Northeastern University and co-founder of the NovoBiotic Pharmaceuticals, which has patented teixobactin, says that the discovery of the novel compound challenges long-held scientific beliefs and holds great promise for treating an array of menacing infections.
Teixobactin belongs to a new class of compounds and kills bacteria by causing their cell walls to break down, as said by Bonn's Tanya Schneider, co-researcher of Lewis.
Those scientists who are not involved in the work cautioned that human trials of teixobactin would be the key to cure diseases and welcomed the findings.
