Potential new MRSA-killing antibiotic developed by mining microbial 'dark matter'

Researchers at Northeastern University in Boston, Massachusetts, USA, have made a breakthrough in antibiotic research.

A novel approach for growing bacteria in soil has produced 25 new antibiotics, and one has been branded “very promising.” Although soil is rich in microbes, only 1% of those can be successfully grown in a laboratory. By creating a device, the iChip, that works under the surface of the soil, researchers were able to determine that they can grow nearly half of all soil bacteria.