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The group of three students received $10,000 in funding to develop their idea, according to an NPR report. Although the researchers, who called themselves Team Lyseia, can’t talk about the specifics of their method, they said the primary mechanism relates to bacteria being reliant on the antibiotic protein to live. Should they begin to show signs of resistance to antibiotics, the bacteria will in turn resist the protein, which they rely on, and they will die off.
“The way that our proteins operate, that if the bacteria evolve resistance to them, actually the bacteria can no longer live anymore,” Zach Rosenthal, a senior student at Stanford and a member of Team Lyseia, told NPR. “We target something that’s essential to bacterial survival.”
The researchers report the preliminary results of their work are promising, andthey believe their method has the potential to kill multi-drug resistant bacteria responsible for thousands of deaths worldwide each year.
More articles on antibiotic resistance:
Scientists develop new MRSA treatment
CDC to provide $67 million to health departments for fight against antibiotic resistance
4 thoughts on antibiotic resistance from expert Dr. Barbara Murray
