Antibiotics are the holy grail of this past century. Penicillin, being the first antibiotic discovered in 1929, is estimated saving over 200 million lives since its first actual use as a medicine in 1942. However, these drugs have been used so widely that infectious organisms that the antibiotics are supposed to kill have adapted, according to the CDC. This is making these antibiotic drugs less effective, a major problem in our society today. Each year, approximately 2 million people become infected with bacteria that resist antibiotics, which results with at least 23,000 deaths due to these infections. However, due to a a recent incredible scientific discovery, we may have found a way to fix that: Teixobactin.
The discovery of antibiotic Teixobactin is the first in nearly 30 years and, according to scientists, has the potential to fight against a range of major infections. The infections listed include fatal ones such as tuberculosis and pneumonia. Studies have also shown that this prototype drug works against harmful bacteria in such a unique way that is greatly unlikely to lead to drug-resistance. Drug resistance–the decreasing effectiveness of antibiotics–has quickened in recent years and has alluded to a major problem in our world due to the dependency we hold on these drugs. The resistance has spread worldwide. With the success that Teixobactin is capable of, we have the opportunity to avoid increased resistance and the number of deaths that it would cause.
Where does it come from?
Simply put, Teixobactin is from the soil. It comes from a bacterium called Eleftheria terrae. Soil is full of bacteria which are always in competition, killing off each other for the resources and Eleftheria terrae happens to use Teixobactin as its weapon to kill off the other bacteria. Since it is only present in soil bacteria, most organisms haven’t been exposed to it enough to develop resistance traits–the reason for its hopeful success. Another interesting part about its discovery is how it was found. Teixobactin was found in a soil microbe which, in the past, have been extremely difficult to discover alive antibiotics in. 99% of soil microbes can’t be grown in a lab because the conventional method kills them off. With Teixobactin, however, researchers discovered a method to keep more of these microbes alive to grown in a lab.
With success in mouse studies, Teixobactin is looking incredibly hopeful for the future of medicine. The true test will come soon when clinical trials with humans begin, revealing side effects not evident with the mice if there are any. It will take time (and money) for this antibiotic to be developed, but it is seemingly worth the wait at this point in time.
Texiobactin seems as if it is a possible answer to the increased problem of drug-resistant viruses and diseases based off of the information you gave. But one thing that remains unclear about this new miracle drug is if it will used by itself to treat all of the infections found in society right now or if it is simply an antibiotic to be added to existing antibiotics to aid in fighting off drug-resistant infections. And my other question is: What is the biological mechanism within this antibiotic that makes it able to maintain it’s potency against infections? I understand that it is found within soil and therefore must have self-cleansing properties which helps in keeping it potent but this is simply a correlation. There is no concrete evidence to suggest that there is a biological mechanism present. What data is there to support the idea that texiobactin can help fight against drug-resistant diseases? Texiobactin may be the answer to drug-resistant infections but, based off of this blog post, there is no evidence pointing toward how.
I enjoyed reading your blog, it was interesting to learn that something I have always just assumed would be at my disposal could one day be “less effective” and my body will require something other than penicillin for things such as a sore throat. Although after reading your article it put me in mind of when you watch the news and hear the health segment about a new study that correlations two random things, such as eating a certain type of ice cream and the development of lung cancer. Something that in reality has little merit, but scientists still discovered a false positive. I feel like this new drug, teixobactin, would fit the news health segment well. I say this because while reading I developed many questions about the new drug.
Are infectious organisms becoming stronger or our bodies becoming weaker?
How do you become infected with the bacteria that resist antibiotics?
How can drug resistance quicken?
What/ how many studies have been done with teixobactin?
More detail about clinical trial?
In class Andrew discussed how hard it is get scientific studies published because of how critical other scientists are on work. I think it would have been valuable to your blog if you were to include information on what criticism has come out against teixobactin and then argue against that, it would really make your article stronger. For example bacteria that we are most afraid of, such as New Delhi Metalloproteinase, has a cell membrane, making it a gram negative bacteria. Teixobactin will not protect against gram negative bacteria. Although you could take evidence found from the mouse study, or show the harmful effects of other bacteria that it eliminates and use that to argue on behalf of teixobactin’s value.
http://sciencemadeeasy.kinja.com/teixobactin-won-t-save-us-all-but-it-s-a-good-start-1683087705
The topic of antibiotics is quite intriguing. I did some background research on Teixobactin and according to this website, the antibiotic is “active only against Gram-positive bacteria and M. tuberculosis.” Although it seems like a prominent drug now, it is believed that in the near future, pathogenic bacteria will grow immunity to Teixobactin; therefore, scientists believe a “multi-pronged approach” will help combat bacterial resistance issue.
Hi Alexandra,
This is a very interesting and hopeful new discovery in medicine. Although it might be awhile before we see Teixobactin in our drugs and antibiotics, it appears to have a promising future after reading your post. I am allergic to Penicillin, and although there are substitutes that I could use for antibiotics, it is useful to have a new antibiotic on the market that works well and is able to fight other bacteria as well as drug resistance. I thought it was really interesting how you incorporated drug resistance into your post, and I found an article talking about drug resistance in regards to antibiotics and how long it takes to develop and also the global consequences of drug resistance.
In reading up on teixobactin’s, I see that there is a lot of potential for a new drug that kills bacteria effectively, while not allowing the bacteria to become resistant to it. These findings are recent so there is still a long way to go before teixobactin’s are used in medicines, if it is ever used. Only about 8% of compounds that pass into animal testing ever make it to the market. If this drug is overused it is also probable that the resistance will pick up faster than expected. So this is a very cool idea in theory, but it will be interesting to see where it goes in the next few years.