Fight bacterial infections by either killing off bacteria or preventing growth of bacteria
Cannot be used to treat viral infections such as colds and the flu.
WHAT IS ANTIBACTERIAL RESISTANCE? Antibacterial resistance occurs when microbes resist the effect of antibiotic drugs, and can survive and continue to reproduce within the body.
HOW DOES THIS HAPPEN?
Bacteria can over express enzymes that modify the antibiotic and render it ineffective
Target site on bacteria can mutate so it maintains its original role but drug can’t bind
Antibiotic is exported out of cell via multi-drug resistant efflux pumps
Horizontal transfer of plasmids conferring antibiotic resistant genes
WHY DO WE CARE? Illnesses that can easily be treated with a simple round of antibiotics can easily become resistant, and turn into a costly, painful hospital visit, and even lead to death.
HOW OFTEN DOES BACTERIAL RESISTANCE HAPPEN?
The timeline below by Clatworthy et al. (2007) shows roughly the time between antibiotic discovery and resistance detected. Ultimately, nearly every antibiotic on the market today has bacteria that have conferred resistance to it.
HOW CAN TEIXOBACTIN HELP?
Teixobactin, unlike many other antibiotics available currently, combats serious bacterial infections such as MRSA, Staph, Tuberculosis, and others.
These bacteria find ways to resist antibiotics, and can still infect the body. Teixobactin is different, as multiple strains of resistant bacteria are still killed by this drug.