{"id":234830,"date":"2016-07-28T11:00:37","date_gmt":"2016-07-28T11:00:37","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/citifmonline.com\/?p=234830"},"modified":"2016-07-28T11:00:37","modified_gmt":"2016-07-28T11:00:37","slug":"human-nose-study-yields-new-antibiotics","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/2016\/07\/human-nose-study-yields-new-antibiotics\/","title":{"rendered":"Human nose study yields new antibiotics"},"content":{"rendered":"
A new class of antibiotics has been discovered by analysing the bacterial warfare taking place up people’s noses, scientists report.<\/p>\n
Tests reported in the journal Nature found the resulting drug, lugdunin, could treat superbug infections.<\/p>\n
The researchers, at the University of Tubingen in Germany, say the human body is an untapped source of new drugs.<\/p>\n
The last new class of the drugs to reach patients was discovered in the 1980s.<\/p>\n
Nearly all antibiotics were discovered in soil bacteria, but the University of Tubingen research team turned to the human body.<\/p>\n
Dreaded superbug<\/strong><\/p>\n Our bodies might not look like a battlefield, but on a microscopic level a struggle for space and food is taking place between rival species of bacteria.<\/p>\n One of the weapons they have long been suspected of using is antibiotics.<\/p>\n Among the bugs that like to invade the nose is Staphylococcus aureus, including the dreaded superbug strain MRSA.<\/p>\n It is found in the noses of 30% of people.<\/p>\n But why not everyone?<\/p>\n