New antibiotic found right under our noses

Scientists have discovered a new class of antibiotics - by analysing the microscopic warfare taking place inside people's noses.

Researchers from the University of Tubingen, Germany, found that 30 per cent of people carry around the superbug responsible for MRSA, the Staphylococcus aureus microbe, in their noses.

However, those people whose nostrils contain a bacteria known as Staphylococcus lugdunensis produce a hitherto unknown compound that can fight off bug.

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up

What is most notable is that Staphylococcus aureus, which is highly resistant to antibiotics, has not become immune to the effects of the compound, which scientists have named lugdunin.

"S. aureus has been exposed to this compound in the human nose for thousands of years and never developed resistance," study author Andreas Peschel said.

The research, published in the journal Nature, analysed nasal swabs from 37 individuals.

"If I was a bacteria, I wouldn’t go to the nose," Peschel added. "There’s nothing - it’s simply salty liquid and a tiny amount of nutrients.

"If we can understand why [the bugs] are living there, we may find new ways to combat bad bacteria, eradicate the spread of infection and maybe even find new therapeutic concepts, because we are in desperate need for new antibiotics."

While the human body carries thousands of bacterial species, most antibiotics are derived from microbes in the soil. However, no new classes have been identified for decades while many bugs are becoming immune to existing treatments. The new research adds weight to the idea that the human body itself could offer up new possibilities in the fight against antibiotic resistance, says The Guardian.

The scientists say the genes for the new antibiotic could be inserted into harmless bacteria, which could then be introduced to humans. Alternatively, lugdunin itself could eventually be produced commercially.

Even if lugdunin itself proved not to be a safe treatment for human cells, the bacteria could possibly be adapted to fight MRSA, added Peschel.

Lugdunin also defeated other bacteria, including a bug that can cause meningitis and bronchitis and a bacteria causing inflammation of the heart, as well as urinary tract and bloodstream infections.