Researchers have managed to synthesize two scorpion venom compounds that are effective against some strains of highly infectious bacteria. The compounds are also unlikely to harm humans, the scientists reassure us. Detail of photograph showing Prof. Richard Zare holding a Diplocentrus melici, a type of scorpion with venom that has healing potential.Image credit: Edson N. […]
New research explores the structure of a natural self-destructive mechanism contained in the bacterium that causes tuberculosis in humans. Exploiting this mechanism using these new findings may soon lead to better treatments. Scientists move closer to the ‘perfect TB drug,’ after zooming in on the bacterium that causes it. In the United States, more than […]
New research shows that rats can detect up to 70 percent more cases of tuberculosis in children than standard smear tests. The findings may help to treat a significant number of children who have previously been overlooked. Doctors need better tools to detect TB in children. The World Health Organization (WHO) say that tuberculosis (TB) […]
Drug resistance has emerged as one of the biggest threats to public health, highlighting the dire need for new antibiotics and improvements to existing ones. A new study may have brought us one step closer to such a feat, after identifying a type of onion that may help to treat drug-resistant tuberculosis. Researchers reveal how […]
A new report from the World Health Organization confirms that, worryingly, there are now limited treatment options for some of the most common drug-resistant infections, which highlights the desperate need for new antibiotics. The WHO say that there are not enough new drugs in the pipeline to help combat antimicrobial resistance. But despite this need, the […]
Scientists have a good understanding of how the bacterium that causes tuberculosis, one of world’s leading causes of death, evades the immune system to establish a foothold in the body. However, what has not been clear is the role of the pathogen in undermining the immune system to promote spread of the disease. Now, a […]