Latest news with #GerryWright
Yahoo
02-04-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
Scientists discover first new class of antibiotics that could fight off drug-resistant bacteria
Researchers say they have discovered a new class of antibiotics that could treat drug-resistant bacteria, the first to reach the market in nearly three decades. The new molecule, called lariocidin, works by targeting a part of a bacteria's cell called the ribosome and can disrupt the cell's functions. "This is a new molecule with a new mode of action. It's a big leap forward for us," Gerry Wright, a professor at McMaster University in Canada and one of the corresponding authors of the study, said in a statement. Related Microplastics may make bacteria more resistant to antibiotics, researchers say Researchers discovered it by growing bacteria from soil in a backyard for approximately one year, according to their findings published in the journal Nature. They found that lariocidin is produced by the Paenibacillus bacteria, which was found in the soil. The researchers exposed the samples to E. coli, a common gut bacterium with strains that can cause serious disease. In addition to its action against bacteria, lariocidin also showed no toxicity to human cells. "Lariocidin has a broad spectrum of action as it is effective against both Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacteria, including those identified as priorities by the World Health Organisation in the search for new antimicrobials due to their multi-drug resistance profile," Rafael Cantón, head of the microbiology department at the Madrid-based Ramón y Cajal Hospital, said in a statement. Cantón, who didn't take part in the study, also highlighted that the discovery of a completely new mechanism to target pathogens represents a "milestone in the fight against resistant bacteria". More research, including clinical trials, is necessary to confirm the compound's efficacy. Related Scientists discover the first new antibiotics in over 60 years using AI The World Health Organization (WHO) has said that antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is one of the top global public health threats. "Our old drugs are becoming less and less effective as bacteria become more and more resistant to them," Wright said. According to the WHO, around 4.95 million deaths globally are associated with AMR. In Europe and Central Asia, antimicrobial resistance causes 133,000 deaths each year, WHO's regional office in Europe has said. It has also been estimated to cost the European Union and Economic Area around €11.7 billion yearly due to productivity loss and healthcare expenditure.
Euronews
02-04-2025
- Health
- Euronews
Scientists discover first new class of antibiotics that could fight off drug-resistant bacteria
ADVERTISEMENT Researchers say they have discovered a new class of antibiotics that could treat drug-resistant bacteria, the first to reach the market in nearly three decades. The new molecule, called lariocidin, works by targeting a part of a bacteria's cell called the ribosome and can disrupt the cell's functions. "This is a new molecule with a new mode of action. It's a big leap forward for us," Gerry Wright, a professor at McMaster University in Canada and one of the corresponding authors of the study, said in a statement. Related Microplastics may make bacteria more resistant to antibiotics, researchers say Researchers discovered it by growing bacteria from soil in a backyard for approximately one year, according to their findings published in the journal Nature . They found that lariocidin is produced by the Paenibacillus bacteria, which was found in the soil. The researchers exposed the samples to E. coli, a common gut bacterium with strains that can cause serious disease. In addition to its action against bacteria, lariocidin also showed no toxicity to human cells. "Lariocidin has a broad spectrum of action as it is effective against both Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacteria, including those identified as priorities by the World Health Organisation in the search for new antimicrobials due to their multi-drug resistance profile," Rafael Cantón, head of the microbiology department at the Madrid-based Ramón y Cajal Hospital, said in a statement. Cantón, who didn't take part in the study, also highlighted that the discovery of a completely new mechanism to target pathogens represents a "milestone in the fight against resistant bacteria". More research, including clinical trials, is necessary to confirm the compound's efficacy. Related Scientists discover the first new antibiotics in over 60 years using AI Antimicrobial resistance: a growing concern for public health The World Health Organization (WHO) has said that antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is one of the top global public health threats. "Our old drugs are becoming less and less effective as bacteria become more and more resistant to them," Wright said. According to the WHO, around 4.95 million deaths globally are associated with AMR. In Europe and Central Asia, antimicrobial resistance causes 133,000 deaths each year, WHO's regional office in Europe has said. It has also been estimated to cost the European Union and Economic Area around €11.7 billion yearly due to productivity loss and healthcare expenditure.
CBC
01-04-2025
- Health
- CBC
Fungal diseases 'growing increasingly resistant to treatment,' WHO says
Social Sharing Some fungal diseases in humans no longer respond to medicines, which increases the risk of severe illness and death as well disease spread, according to a new report. On Tuesday, the World Health Organization (WHO) published what it calls its first-ever report on the lack of tests and treatments for fungal infections. Yeasts, moulds and mushrooms are all examples of fungi. Common toenail infections or vaginal yeast infections are common and treatable, but that's not always the case. "Fungal diseases are an increasing public health concern, with common infections — such as Candida, which causes oral and vaginal thrush — growing increasingly resistant to treatment," WHO said. Here are some key things to know about fungal diseases in Canada and around the world. What are fungal diseases and why do they matter? Fungal diseases are a type of infectious disease that spread from person to person, like touching someone who has the infection or sharing clothes with them, or in an environment, like from breathing in spores. Biochemistry professor Gerry Wright says the WHO's reports draw attention to an important problem. "All of us have someone in our lives that they know how it's been touched by cancer so it makes them vulnerable, or who have had a kidney transplant or a heart transplant or who has lupus," said Wright, who searches for new ways to kill fungal pathogens at McMaster University in Hamilton. These conditions are all treated with immune-suppressing drugs, he says — and people with weakened immune systems are more susceptible to fungal disease. Invasive fungal diseases occur when fungi enter blood, tissue and other places in the body that are normally sterile. For fungi in the WHO's top "critical priority" category, mortality rates reach up to 88 per cent, it said in a release. WATCH | A deadly fungus lurks in soil: A deadly fungus is creeping toward Canada because of climate change 2 years ago Duration 6:31 "You can get lung infections, so fungal pneumonia," Wright said. "There's even certain kinds of fungi that have an affinity for the neurological system so you can get growth in the spinal cord and in the brain. Pretty much anywhere where you can think of would be a bad place for an infectious organism to be, fungi can make their way in there." What's new? Better treatments for diseases like cancer mean more people are likely to be living with immunocompromised conditions, which also could mean increases in cases of invasive fungal diseases, the WHO said. Rebecca Shapiro, an associate professor who studies fungal disease at the University of Guelph, pointed to a few other factors behind the increasing rates. "We've seen increasing fungal infections, especially there was a lot of co-occurrence of fungal disease during the COVID-19 pandemic," she said, "so people who are very sick and hospitalized with COVID were also really highly susceptible to fungal disease." While about a dozen classes of antibiotics are available to treat bacterial infections, there are only three main classes of antifungals, she said. "We also have to be concerned about how we are using antifungals both in the clinic and actually also in agriculture," Shapiro said. They're sprayed on crops to prevent mould, blight and rust diseases. "One of the issues is there seems to often not be a lot of communication with regards to how drugs are being used on both sides." Take the Aspergillus genus, for example, whose spores are common in the environment. But the Aspergillus fumigatus species causes a variety of illnesses, from allergic diseases to invasive aspergillosis, a serious fungal infection, depending on a person's immune and lung status. This particular infection is increasingly resistant to antifungals because of use in both the clinic and in agriculture, which the WHO called "worrisome." To help combat this, doctors encourage patients to finish the entire course of an antifungal treatment. Properly disposing of medicines also prevents antifungals from entering the environment, where the microbes may also develop resistance. What's the situation in Canada? Candida auris is another fungal pathogen that the WHO called a critical priority. The form of yeast spreads easily in hospitals and long-term care homes, particularly among people with weakened immune systems. It can be hard to treat successfully when it invades the bloodstream and is frequently resistant to antifungal medications. As of March 26, a total of 65 cases of C. auris have been reported across the country since 2012, when the first case was identified, said the Public Health Agency of Canada. Of those cases, 46 have been identified since 2019. "C. auris can be multi-drug-resistant, which means it can be unaffected by at least two types of antifungals," the federal agency said in an email. "All known cases in Canada so far have responded to at least one of the recommended treatments." Most fungal pathogens grow on the skin, which has a cooler temperature than inside the body. Wright said C. auris is an exception: "The thought here is that that might be one of the first examples of climate change affecting a pathogenic organism because now it can grow pretty well at human body temperature 37 [C], and so that's now starting to be a big concern." What's next? WHO said antifungal medicines that work against a wide range of severe infections are needed, and children are particularly underserved. There aren't enough approved treatments, the organization said. Over the past decade, just four new antifungals have been approved in the U.S., the EU or China. And of the nine currently in clinical development, only three are in the last stage, meaning there are few approvals expected in the next decade. Currently available medicines can have serious side effects and require prolonged hospital stays, it said. Both Wright and Shapiro's labs work to develop potential antifungals. "There really is a group of people who understand that this is a big problem and are working to try and solve it," Wright said. "But you know, we don't have solutions overnight."
Euronews
01-04-2025
- Health
- Euronews
Researchers discover new molecule in soil sample that could help fight antimicrobial resistance
ADVERTISEMENT Researchers say they have discovered a new class of antibiotics that could treat drug-resistant bacteria. The new molecule, called lariocidin, works by targeting a part of a bacteria's cell called the ribosome and can disrupt the cell's functions. 'This is a new molecule with a new mode of action. It's a big leap forward for us,' Gerry Wright, a professor at McMaster University in Canada and one of the corresponding authors of the study, said in a statement. Researchers discovered it by growing bacteria from soil in a backyard for approximately one year, according to their findings published in the journal Nature . They found that lariocidin is produced by the Paenibacillus bacteria, which was found in the soil. The researchers exposed the samples to E. coli, a common gut bacterium with strains that can cause serious disease. Related Microplastics may make bacteria more resistant to antibiotics, researchers say In addition to its action against bacteria, lariocidin also showed no toxicity to human cells. 'Lariocidin has a broad spectrum of action as it is effective against both Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacteria, including those identified as priorities by the World Health Organisation in the search for new antimicrobials due to their multi-drug resistance profile,' Rafael Cantón, head of the microbiology department at the Madrid-based Ramón y Cajal Hospital, said in a statement. Cantón, who didn't take part in the study, also highlighted that the discovery of a completely new mechanism to target pathogens represents a 'milestone in the fight against resistant bacteria'. More research, including clinical trials, is necessary to confirm the compound's efficacy. Antimicrobial resistance: a growing concern for public health The World Health Organization (WHO) has said that antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is one of the top global public health threats. 'Our old drugs are becoming less and less effective as bacteria become more and more resistant to them,' Wright said. Related Boosting immunisations could prevent 106,000 deaths from antibiotic resistance per year, study finds According to the WHO, around 4.95 million deaths globally are associated with AMR. In Europe and Central Asia, antimicrobial resistance causes 133,000 deaths each year, WHO's regional office in Europe has said. It has also been estimated to cost the European Union and Economic Area around €11.7 billion yearly due to productivity loss and healthcare expenditure.
Fox News
28-03-2025
- Health
- Fox News
New class of antibiotics discovered for first time in decades
For the first time in three decades, researchers believe they have identified a new class of antibiotics. Teams at McMaster University in Ontario, Canada and the University of Illinois, Chicago — led by researcher Gerry Wright — collaborated in the discovery of lariocidin, which was found to be effective against drug-resistant bacteria. The results were published this week in the journal Nature. Lariocidin is a lasso peptide, a string of amino acids in a lasso shape that attacks bacteria and keeps it from growing and surviving, according to a McMaster press release. It is produced by a type of bacteria called Paenibacillus, which the researchers retrieved from a local backyard soil sample and cultivated in a lab for one year. Paenibacillus was found to produce a new substance that attacks antibiotic-resistant bacteria. "Lariocidine is not susceptible to many of the mechanisms that make disease-causing bacteria resistant to the available antibiotics," the researchers told Fox News Digital. The molecule has a unique structure of a "knotted lasso or a pretzel." "Lariocidin binds to the molecular machine, the ribosome, that makes all the cellular proteins, which is one of the most vital processes in the cells," the researchers said. "It binds to a specific site in the ribosome to which none of the known antibiotics bind, and stops the ribosome from making proteins." Another key benefit of lariocidin is that it's not toxic to human cells, the researchers noted. The finding is significant in light of growing antimicrobial resistance, which the World Health Organization has described as a global public health threat that kills more than 4.5 million people worldwide each year. "The antibiotic resistance crisis that we're currently facing represents a major threat to how we practice medicine," the researchers told Fox News Digital. "We need to prevent and treat infection if we are to continue to have unfettered access to surgeries, hip replacements, cancer chemotherapy, the treatment of premature infants, etc. — consequently, we need new antibiotic drugs to do this over the long term." "The antibiotic resistance crisis that we're currently facing represents a major threat to how we practice medicine." Dr. Marc Siegel, clinical professor of medicine at NYU Langone Health and Fox News senior medical analyst, applauded the discovery. "Artificial intelligence promises to improve new drug targets, including for antibiotics — and in the meantime, research at McMaster in Canada has found a new class of antibiotics," he told Fox News Digital. "This new kind of antibiotic — lariocidin — works by interfering with protein synthesis that many bacteria need to survive." Siegel reiterated that a new class of antibiotics hasn't emerged in decades — "in part because they aren't that profitable, as you only need them when sick." Dr. Stephen Vogel, a family medicine physician with PlushCare, a virtual health platform with primary care, therapy and weight management options, said this discovery represents a "promising answer" to tackle infections caused by drug-resistant bacteria. "Because this microbe can kill bacteria in a way that it can't evolve to evade, due to its protein production system called the ribosome, it has the potential to be a durable and lasting choice for a large variety of deadly bacterial infections," the North Carolina-based doctor told Fox News Digital. If this microbe were brought to market as an antibiotic, it would mean millions fewer deaths from bacterial infections each year, according to Vogel. "Garden soil may seem mundane, but it's in fact its own universe of microbes, fungi and bacteria, which can lead to key innovations like the promise that this discovery brings," he added. Looking ahead, the McMaster researchers will investigate ways to modify and produce the newly discovered molecule for use in clinical settings, a process that will require significant time and resources. "This discovery is just the starting point of a long process of developing this molecule into a drug," the researchers told Fox News Digital. "What we have to do next is to test whether lariocidin, which can cure animals, is effective for the treatment of a variety of infections in humans." For more Health articles, visit The researchers added that science is sometimes "serendipitous." "You often have to shovel a lot of dirt before you find a gem, which lariocidin certainly is. Therefore, funding 'dirt shoveling' is critical for finding new gems."
