The discovery of a new one antibiotic. The one achieved by the university scholars with offices in Varese, Como and Busto Arsizio is a milestone of considerable importance. The molecule identified is in fact a weapon capable of counteracting the resistance mechanisms of bacteria to current medicines.
The drug, signed A50926, is of the glycopeptide type, that is, it is part of a class of antibiotics with a complex chemical structure and is produced biologically by a particular microorganism considered rare.
The authors of the discovery are the members of the research group of Microbial Biotechnology, led by Flavia Marinelli, of the Department of Biotechnology and Life Sciences of the University ofInsubria. British researchers, led by Andrew W. Truman, from the John Innes Center in Norwich, and German researchers, led by Jörn Kalinowski of the University of Bielefeld.
The results of the work were recently published in the international journal Acs Chemical Biology.
“The scientific and social impact of this discovery, which was reached through a genomic approach on the producer microorganism – says Flavia Marinelli, full professor of Chemistry and biotechnology of fermentation – it is easily understandable considering that it was estimated that in 2050 bacterial infections will cause approx 10 million dead per year, far exceeding deaths from cancer, diabetes or road accidents, moreover with a prohibitive cost forecast for the health system “.
As is known, the contrast to’antibiotic resistance is one of the great challenges of medicine: the ability of microorganisms to survive existing drugs poses a real threat to health. And the spread of the Covid-19 made the situation worse. In fact, it is estimated that the high hospitalization of coronavirus patients and the consequent greater use of antibiotics for infections secondary bacterial bacteria will have the effect of a further increase in the phenomenon of antibiotic resistance at the hospital level.
The antibiotic is, however, an essential tool to combat different types of infections so much that without it, for example, the operations surgical, simple or complex.
Hence, therefore, the growing need for new ones molecules, like that discovery, capable of counter the mechanisms of resistance that today dramatically limit the use of existing drugs.
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