Clovibactin against antibiotic resistance?

Antibiotic resistance is a major public health problem, implicated in over 5 million deaths according to estimations made in 2019. Researchers have just published a promising new antibiotic...

The discovery of antibiotics was a major advance in the history of medicine, and 𝐚𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐛𝐢𝐨𝐭𝐢𝐜 𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐞 was first identified in the 1940s. 𝐁𝐚𝐜𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐚 𝐟𝐫𝐞𝐪𝐮𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐥𝐲 𝐞𝐱𝐩𝐨𝐬𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐚𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐛𝐢𝐨𝐭𝐢𝐜𝐬 are able to develop defense mechanisms through genetic mutation, enabling them to no longer be affected by the action of these substances. Moreover, antibiotic resistance can be transmitted from one species to another, 𝐬𝐩𝐞𝐞𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐮𝐩 𝐢𝐭𝐬 𝐬𝐩𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐝. For many years now, researchers have been searching for new, effective molecules unknown to bacteria.

A consortium of universities in Europe and the United States has reportedly found 𝐚 𝐧𝐞𝐰 𝐚𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐛𝐢𝐨𝐭𝐢𝐜 isolated from soil bacteria: 𝐜𝐥𝐨𝐯𝐢𝐛𝐚𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐧. This molecule comes from bacteria that have never been cultivated. Thus, they have never been in contact with antibiotics and 𝐝𝐢𝐝 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐝𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐥𝐨𝐩 𝐚𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐛𝐢𝐨𝐭𝐢𝐜 𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐞. The results of the study showed that clovibactin was able to combat a staphylococcus aureus infection in rodents, even though this bacterium is known to be 𝐚𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐛𝐢𝐨𝐭𝐢𝐜-𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐧𝐭.

This new molecule 𝐝𝐢𝐟𝐟𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐟𝐫𝐨𝐦 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐮𝐬𝐮𝐚𝐥 𝐚𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐛𝐢𝐨𝐭𝐢𝐜𝐬 𝐢𝐧 𝐢𝐭𝐬 𝐦𝐨𝐝𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐚𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧, notably because it binds to an immutable part of bacteria, which will find it much harder to develop antibiotic resistance to clovibactin. We therefore eagerly await the results of the development of this molecule in humans...