A new antibiotic discovered that quells resistance
antibiotics may get a fresh lease of life following the discovery of a potent compound by a team of scientists at Merck Research Laboratories in Rahway, New Jersey, in the us.
Called platensimycin, the compound was isolated from a fungus-like bacterium found in a soil sample from South Africa. The team was led by Sheo Singh, the firm's director for natural products chemistry. The study was published in the May 18 issue of Nature (Vol 441, No 7091). If it passes the required clinical trials, platensimycin may herald the first major new class of antibiotics in decades.
Use of antibiotics as a line of treatment is falling out of grace due to increasing resistance acquired by microbes against the drugs. Some germs,