Drug Discovery and Development

  • Home Drug Discovery and Development
  • Drug Discovery
  • Women in Pharma and Biotech
  • Oncology
  • Neurological Disease
  • Infectious Disease
  • Resources
    • Video features
    • Podcast
    • Voices
    • Webinars
  • Pharma 50
    • 2025 Pharma 50
    • 2024 Pharma 50
    • 2023 Pharma 50
    • 2022 Pharma 50
    • 2021 Pharma 50
  • Advertise
  • SUBSCRIBE

5 Bizarre Places Scientists Are Hunting for Novel Antibiotics

By Meagan Parrish | August 3, 2016

It’s one of the most urgent issues facing the world of medicine: as bacteria develop resistance to existing antibiotics, patients are facing the threat of superbugs and nasty infections that are getting harder to treat. The situation is made even more critical when considering the long, expensive and risky business of bringing a new drug to market — a process that can take decades.

Scientists around the world are scouring high, low, and everywhere in between for microbes that might deliver the next great breakthrough. Here’s a look at some of the most intriguing destinations they’re “bioprospecting.”

Golf Courses

This antibiotic success story started on the fringes of a golf course near Tokyo, Japan, where Dr. Satoshi Omura found the bacterium Streptomyces avermitilis. The discovery led to the development of a drug called Ivermectin, which is used to treat several parasitic worm infections — it also won Dr. Omura the 2015 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine.

Ivermectin is credited with saving millions of lives and treats diseases like river blindness, which affects people living in extremely poor countries.

Men’s Beards and Cats Noses

Researchers at the University College London have found that beards a teaming with bacteria that could be used to kill other bacteria. In fact, according to one of the researchers, they managed to find at least 100 different isolates after swabbing just 20 beards. About 25 percent of these showed antibiotic properties. They even found that one of the strains could be used to fight a drug-resistant strain of E. Coli.

The same researchers have also been looking at cat’s noses and even household items for other useful bacteria.

Caves

According to microbiologist Dr. Naowarat Cheeptham, a potential hiding spot for superbug-fighting antibiotics could be deep underground in caves.

“We are racing against the clock in a way,” Dr. Cheeptham told Bloomberg, explaining that too many patients are dying from infections that should be easier to treat.

Dr. Cheeptham and her team have been analyzing cave bacteria for antibiotic properties. But in the 14 years she has been searching, the team has only come close to forming a chemical structure that could be turned into a drug one time. And even if she is successful, she points out that it could take up to 25 years to make a new drug.

Fungus-Farming Leafcutter Ants

Scientists at the University of East Anglia in the UK are looking for a big breakthrough in a tiny place — on the backs of leafcutter ants. Here’s how it works: ants chop down swathes of rainforest canopy and then carry the plant material back to their nests where they use it to feed a fungus called Leucoagaricus gongylophorus, which they eat. It’s good news for the fungus, which thrives in the cozy, humid environment.

The fungus is also protected from disease by being exposed to a bacteria found on the ants’ bodies. Several strains of this bacteria have also been shown to have antibiotic bacteria that scientists are hoping to develop into a novel drug.

Human Noses

Last week, a group of German scientists announced that they screened nasal bacteria for bacteria that fights Staphylococcus aureus, which can lead to difficult-to-treat infections.

Sure enough, the researchers found that strains of Staphylococcus lugdunensis produced an antibiotic that effectively combatted S. aureus skin infections in mice. The team said that the compound also had potent antimicrobial activity against a range of bacteria, but said the discovery is just one small step to solving the wider issue of antibiotic shortages.

Follow us on Twitter and Facebook for updates on the latest pharmaceutical and biopharmaceutical manufacturing news! 


Filed Under: Drug Discovery

 

Related Articles Read More >

EVEREST lead investigator on why Dupixent sets a new bar for treating coexisting CRSwNP and asthma
Sanders, King target DTC pharma ads but the industry worries more about threats to its $2B R&D model
Zoliflodacin wins FDA nod for treatment of gonorrhea
FDA approved ENFLONSIA for the prevention of RSV in Infants
“ddd
EXPAND YOUR KNOWLEDGE AND STAY CONNECTED
Get the latest news and trends happening now in the drug discovery and development industry.

MEDTECH 100 INDEX

Medtech 100 logo
Market Summary > Current Price
The MedTech 100 is a financial index calculated using the BIG100 companies covered in Medical Design and Outsourcing.
Drug Discovery and Development
  • MassDevice
  • DeviceTalks
  • Medtech100 Index
  • Medical Design Sourcing
  • Medical Design & Outsourcing
  • Medical Tubing + Extrusion
  • Subscribe to our E-Newsletter
  • Contact Us
  • About Us
  • R&D World
  • Drug Delivery Business News
  • Pharmaceutical Processing World

Copyright © 2025 WTWH Media LLC. All Rights Reserved. The material on this site may not be reproduced, distributed, transmitted, cached or otherwise used, except with the prior written permission of WTWH Media
Privacy Policy | Advertising | About Us

Search Drug Discovery & Development

  • Home Drug Discovery and Development
  • Drug Discovery
  • Women in Pharma and Biotech
  • Oncology
  • Neurological Disease
  • Infectious Disease
  • Resources
    • Video features
    • Podcast
    • Voices
    • Webinars
  • Pharma 50
    • 2025 Pharma 50
    • 2024 Pharma 50
    • 2023 Pharma 50
    • 2022 Pharma 50
    • 2021 Pharma 50
  • Advertise
  • SUBSCRIBE