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THAT'SNEWS
Bacterial Cytological Profiling
Helps Create More Effective Antibiotics
B
University
of California, San Diego, have
developed a new method for discovering antibiotics that could
lead to new treatments for antibioticresistant bacteria.
The method, called bacterial cytological profiling (BCP), identifies the cellular
pathway affected by antibacterial molecules much more quickly than traditional
methods. By examining the shape of dead
bacteria, scientists are able to determine their
14
| San Antonio MD NEWS
■ MDNEWS.COM
IOLOGISTS AT THE
cause of death and create more effective antibiotics
that target bacteria where they are weakest.
What would typically take two to six months with
traditional methods — such as radiolabeling assays or
transcriptional profiling — can now be accomplished in
two hours. As bacteria continue to evolve and develop
resistance to certain antibiotics, an urgent need for
new medicines capable of treating the infections they
cause has arisen. This new method could lead to the
accelerated development of antibiotics that work against
multidrug-resistant pathogens. ■
—Kimmely Sanders
