Amid growth in antimicrobial-resistant bacteria, new class of antibiotics discovered [Video]

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.

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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…