Illinois: Scientists have developed a new antibiotic capable of killing harmful bacteria without harming healthy bacteria.
In a study on mice, it was found to be effective against more than 130 antibiotic-resistant bacteria.
Previous research has shown that common antibiotics can affect gut bacteria, increase the chance of other infections, and cause gastrointestinal, kidney, liver, and other problems.
Professor Paul Hergenrother from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign said that the antibiotics we are using to fight infections have some negative effects on us. While treating infections, they also kill our healthy bacteria.
He said scientists wanted to think about next-generation antibiotics that would be designed to kill only infected bacteria instead of healthy bacteria.
The study found that the drug killed up to 90 percent of E. coli and E. coli bacteria at high doses. When the antibiotic was fed to mice infected with drug-resistant bacterial septicemia or pneumonia, the drug protected 100 percent of mice with septicemia and 70 percent of mice with pneumonia.
