Group items tagged

Researchers at at an Australian university have developed a new form of antibiotic that can be swiftly re-engineered to avoid resistance to dangerous superbugs. The antibiotic, which was developed by PhD candidate Priscila Cardoso and major supervisor Dr Celine Valery from RMIT's School of Health and Biosciences, has a basic architecture that allows it to be generated quickly and cheaply in a lab. The antibiotic, Priscilicidin, has tiny amino acid building blocks that allow it to be tailored to combat various types of antimicrobial resistance. With the World Health Organization calling antimicrobial resistance "one of the top ten global public health threats facing humanity", developing new antibiotics has become more urgent than ever. Professor Charlotte Conn, one of Cardoso's PhD supervisors, said given that urgency, Priscilicidin was an exciting breakthrough for public health. Priscilicidin is a type of antimicrobial peptide. These peptides are produced by all living organisms as the first defence against bacteria and viruses.