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Articles on Antibiotic-resistant bacteria

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E. coli as a model organism helped researchers better understand how DNA works. Ed Horowitz Photography/The Image Bank via Getty Images

E. coli is one of the most widely studied organisms – and that may be a problem for both science and medicine

Researchers uncovered the foundations of biology by using E. coli as a model organism. But over-reliance on this microbe can lead to knowledge blind spots with implications for antibiotic resistance.
Sub-Saharan African countries don’t have enough wastewater treatment plants. John Wessels/AFP via Getty Images

Wastewater is a valuable source of information – Africa’s scientists need to use it to find drug-resistant bacteria

Wastewater treatment plants receive wastewater from a variety of sources. This makes them useful proxies for determining the burden of antimicrobial resistance in communities.
Tolerant bacteria are dormant until an antibiotic threat has passed, then reemerge to conduct business as usual. Christoph Burgstedt/Science Photo Library via Getty Images

Looming behind antibiotic resistance is another bacterial threat – antibiotic tolerance

Antibiotic resistance has contributed to millions of deaths worldwide. Research suggests that any bacteria can develop antibiotic tolerance, and possibly resistance, when pushed to their limits.
A virus’s genes hold a record of where it’s traveled, and when. imaginima/E+ via Getty Images

Charting changes in a pathogen’s genome yields clues about its past and hints about its future

After a nose swab tests positive for a virus or bacteria, scientists can use the sample’s genetic sequence to figure out where and when the pathogen emerged and how fast it’s changing.
Effective delivery of PNA therapies may offer a way to treat multidrug-resistant infections and other diseases. sorbetto/DigitalVision Vectors via Getty Images

New technology can create treatment against drug-resistant bacteria in under a week and adapt to antibiotic resistance

Antibiotic resistance is one of the biggest public health threats in the world. New research, however, may have found a way to keep up with rapidly evolving bacteria.
Bacteriophage (yellow) are viruses that infect and destroy bacteria (blue). Christoph Burgstedt/Science Photo Library,Getty Images

Engineered viruses can fight the rise of antibiotic-resistant bacteria

As the world has focused on the COVID-19 pandemic, other microbial foes are waging war on humans. Antibiotic-resistant bacteria pose a growing threat. But viruses may defeat them.
Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) bacteria (coloured yellow) enmeshed within a human white blood cell (coloured red). MRSA is a major cause of hospital-associated infections. (NIAID)

Drug-resistant superbugs: A global threat intensified by the fight against coronavirus

Antimicrobial resistance is a public health and economic disaster waiting to happen. If we do not address this threat, by 2050 more people will die from drug-resistant infections than from cancer.

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