Scientists have won a key battle in the war against antibiotic-resistant bugs, finding a new class of antibiotics by analysing the bacterial warfare taking place up people’s noses.
The results, reported in the journal Nature, found the resulting drug, lugdunin, could treat superbug infections and researchers, at the University of Tubingen in Germany, say the human body is an untapped source of new drugs.
Previously scientists have looked to nature, predominantly soil, to find new sources of antibiotics in an increasingly antibiotic resistant world.
It will take years of testing before lugdunin could reach patients and even then it may not prove to be successful.
Professor Andreas Peschel said the body could be a goldmine for new antibiotics.
“Lugdunin may be the first example of such an antibiotic, we have started a screening programme,” he said.
According to the BBC Peschel said it might one day be a possibility that people be infected with genetically-modified bacteria to fight their infections.