Researchers reported Friday they have found four promising antibiotics in chemical families never used before against germs through a novel testing tool that can screen dozens of compounds at once.
The four compounds appear to kill bacteria, at least in a lab dish. Because they probably attack bacteria in different ways, germs should take some time to develop resistant strains.
“These represent whole new classes of antibiotic agents,” said Helen Blackwell, lead author of a University of Wisconsin-Madison report on the discoveries published in the journal Chemistry and Biology.