(Rosie McCall/ IFL Science) — Scientists at the University of Sheffield in England say they have identified a bug-killing compound that can snuff out microbial-resistant bacteria, including potentially deadly strains of E. coli. The study was recently published in the journal ACS Nano.
Antimicrobial resistance is a natural process of evolution that occurs when microorganisms, like bacteria, viruses, fungi, and parasites, adapt to survive antibiotics and other medication designed to destroy them or slow down their growth – but our overuse of antibiotics is speeding up the process.
Between them, antimicrobial-resistant pathogens (or “superbugs”) are responsible for some 25,000 deaths a year in the European Union. Meanwhile, a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) report, published in 2013, found that more than 2 million people in the US develop an antibiotic-resistant infection each year, and at least 23,000 people die as a result. (…)