| ■ Scientists Discover Key to Pneumonia Bacterium's Penicillin Resistance | 2008.03.17 |
| U.K. scientists have discovered how a bacterium that causes pneumonia becomes resistant to penicillin, a finding that could lead to the development of new drugs to fight different types of antibiotic-resistant bacteria. The University of Warwick researchers studied Streptococcus pneumoniae, which kills five million children a year worldwide, BBC News reported. S. pneumoniae is among a growing number of bacteria that have developed resistance to penicillin and other drugs. The researchers found that S. pneumoniae deploys a protein called MurM in order to protect itself from the effects of penicillin. The study appears in the Journal of Biological Chemistry. These findings may help in the development of new drugs that disrupt the chemistry of MurM in order to prevent the bacterium from developing resistance to penicillin, BBC News reported. The research could also help in efforts to combat drug resistance in other types of bacteria. |