Dr. Micha Fridman of Tel Aviv University’s department of chemistry is developing what he calls the next generation of antibiotics, which will eb able to combat drug-resistant “superbugs.” The medication, whose research was conducted in collaboration with Sylvie Garneau-Tsodikova of the University of Michigan, is based on turning antibiotics’ bacterial resistance against itself.
According to Fridman, certain bacterial strains include enzymes that help bacteria make antibiotics inactive. His team isolated the inactivating enzymes, then integrated them into new drugs that have proven to be effective against typically resistant bacterial strains. When fully developed, the new antibiotics will be used against infections that are now considered difficult if not impossible to treat wih current antibiotics.
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