The compound that was found is produced by a species of bacterium to kill another microbe, which is responsible for thousands of deaths every year.
A New Natural Antibiotic Has Been Discovered In The Human Nose pic.twitter.com/YcghG29FYP
— Popular Science (@PopSci) August 2, 2016
Nasal bacteria pump out a potential new antibiotic that kills MRSA pic.twitter.com/JMiwdebfSU
— Scientific American (@sciam) July 30, 2016
Evolutionary biologist Andrew Read, who wasn’t involved with the research, said in ScienceMag that the study demonstrates that people should look to nature for solutions to problems that nature throws at us.
German researchers documented their discovery in the new study. The team of researchers took nasal samples from 37 participants and found that 10 percent had the bacterium Staphylococcus lugdunensis.
Staphylococcus lugdunensis can produce an antibiotic that can kill methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA), which is considered to be a potentially harmful superbug.
Andreas Peschel, co-author of the study, said the discovery was unexpected because soil bacteria is where most antibiotics that are in use come from.
Peschel said the findings opens up a new preventative approach to taking on bacterial infections. He said one possibility is harmless bacterial could be modified to create the new antibiotic and then introduce it to people who are carrying MRSA.
Researchers also discovered the new antibiotic defeated other types of bacteria, such as Streptococcus pneumoniae, which can cause conditions including meningitis and bronchitis. Strains of Enterococcus are also killed by the antibiotic. Enterococcus is bacteria that can cause bloodstream infections, inflammation of the heart and urinary tract infections.
Patients are becoming less responsive to medicines that are currently on the market, so this new source of antibiotics is welcoming. However, developing a drug with lugdunin, which researchers are trying to patent, is years away.
