“Rubik’s Cube” Solution to Antibiotic Resistance
You don’t have to look hard to find terrifying stories in the news these days.
But if you ask me, one of the scariest is the threat of antibiotic resistance.
This isn’t a Third World problem, either.
Antibiotic-resistant strains of bacteria are growing—causing more than 2.8 million potentially deadly infections every year in the U.S. alone.
The need for newer, smarter antibiotics has never been greater.
That’s why I was so impressed by a new, shapeshifting antibiotic. This “Rubik’s cube” can kill even the most drug-resistant infections.
Bacteria are tough little buggers.
They do anything they can to survive—including constantly evolving to dodge the drugs we design to kill them. (That’s right, we’re literally being outsmarted by BUGS.)
Over-prescribing and incorrect treatment protocols have only sped up the inevitable.
The answer isn’t necessarily in developing new drugs—but in enhancing existing ones.
Enter: The new science of shapeshifting, adaptive drugs.
Working with other professionals in the UK and Australia, Dr. John E. Moses combined the core of the antibiotic vancomycin with the core of the hydrocarbon bullvalene.
Bullvalene is a weird molecule that “shapeshifts” by changing the positions of its atoms, allowing for over one million possible configurations. The hydrocarbon lends this novel ability to the antibiotic enabling it to stay one step ahead of evolving bacteria.
In an insect model of bacteria resistant to vancomycin, this “Rubik’s cube” antibiotic was much more effective at clearing drug-resistant infections than standard vancomycin alone.
Just as intriguing? The bacteria showed no signs of developing resistance to this new type of drug.
Of course, much more research will need to be conducted before a drug like this is ready to prescribe to humans.
In the meantime, I’m happy to see that scientists are working around the clock on this problem. This exciting finding could offer hope for a current crisis—and a future epidemic.
In the meantime, fortunately, nature has provided its own safe and effective antibiotics that don’t come with the risk of resistance. Here I shared seven of the best. Consult with your doctor about which one is the best choice for you.
P.S. It’s more important than ever to help strengthen your body’s defenses to avoid an infection that modern medicine might not be able to treat. CLICK HERE to discover an excellent way to do that.
SOURCE:
“Shapeshifting bullvalene-linked vancomycin dimers as effective antibiotics against multidrug-resistant gram-positive bacteria”, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, April 3, 2023. DOI: 10.1073/pnas.2208737120
