Old Antibiotics: The impact of this is clearly visible in India. In 2021, approximately 260,000 people died simply because antibiotics failed to control the infections in their bodies.

How do old antibiotics work?

Old Antibiotics: Scientists worldwide are facing a significant problem today. This problem is antibiotic resistance (AMR). This means that bacteria are gradually becoming stronger against the very drugs we used to kill them. The impact has become so dangerous that even mild infections are difficult to treat and can sometimes prove fatal.

Its impact is clearly visible in India. In 2021, approximately 260,000 people died simply because antibiotics failed to control the infections in their bodies. This means that if the drugs had been effective, these deaths could have been prevented. However, researchers at IIT Bombay have now discovered a novel approach. Instead of developing new antibiotics, they have found a way to make old drugs effective again. So, let's explore how old antibiotics can be made effective again and what the process is.

How come antibiotics don't kill bacteria?

Macrolides are a common class of antibiotics, including drugs like Azithromycin and Erythromycin. These drugs attack the bacterial protein-making machinery, the ribosome. By inhibiting the ribosome, bacteria are unable to make essential proteins and die. However, bacteria are not left behind. They use ERβ enzymes to alter the ribosomes. This prevents antibiotics from killing them.

How do old antibiotics become effective again?

A team from IIT Bombay has discovered a way to inactivate the Erm enzyme. They used aptamers. Aptamers are small, synthetic DNA fragments that bind specifically to the Erm42 enzyme. The researchers selected the two most effective aptamers from millions of DNA sequences. To make the aptamers more precise, unnecessary parts were removed. This means that they now directly target the Erm enzyme and stop it from working.