Press Releases
Medieval medicine remedy could provide new treatment for modern day infections
Antibiotic resistance is an increasing battle for scientists to overcome, as more antimicrobials are urgently needed to treat biofilm-associated infections. However scientists from the School of Life Sciences at the University of Warwick say research into natural antimicrobials could provide candidates to fill the antibiotic discovery gap.
Breakthrough in understanding enzymes that make antibiotic for drug-resistant pathogen
One of the WHO’s three critical priority pathogens, Acinetobacter baumannii, for which new antibiotics are urgently needed is one step closer to being tackled, as researchers from the Department of Chemistry - University of Warwick have made a breakthrough in understanding the enzymes that assemble the antibiotic enacyloxin.
What factors influence the ways people access and use antibiotics in low-and-middle-income countries?
It is often assumed that people use antibiotics inappropriately because they don’t understand enough about the spread of drug resistant superbugs. A new study published in the medical journal BMJ Open and led by Warwick researcher Marco J Haenssgen reveals that in fact basic understanding of drug resistance is widespread in Southeast Asia - and that higher levels of awareness are actually linked to higher antibiotic use in the general population.
Bacteria such as E. coli detected in minutes by new technology from the University of Warwick
Scientists at the University of Warwick have discovered that healthy bacteria cells and cells inhibited by antibiotics or UV light show completely different reactions to electrical stimulus. The findings could lead to the development of medical devices which can rapidly detect live bacterial cells, evaluate the effects of antibiotics on growing bacteria colonies, or reveal antibiotic-resistant bacteria.
Awareness campaigns not enough to stop superbug crisis in developing countries
In a landmark study of health behaviours in developing countries, researchers have found that awareness campaigns alone are not enough to reduce unnecessary antibiotic use and, in fact, could risk making the superbug crisis worse. The research project, led by Dr Marco J Haenssgen, Assistant Professor in the Department of Global Sustainable Development, involved more than 2,000 people in Thailand and Laos and challenges conventional wisdom that global public awareness campaigns are one of the best tools to tackle drug resistance.
Bacteria-fighting polymers created with light
Hundreds of polymers – which could kill drug-resistant superbugs in novel ways – can be produced and tested using light, using a method developed at the University of Warwick