Fighting Super-Bugs with "Super-charged" Antibiotics
Scientists at the University of Queensland in Australia are attacking antibiotics-resistant bacteria by teaching an old drug new tricks. The drug is the antibiotic vancomycin, and the team has early evidence that their revamped version could be used to treat methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus Aureus (MRSA) and Vancomycin-Resistant Enterococci (VRE).
The scientists took vancomycin and re-engineered it to make it bind to the membranes of bacteria, rather than to human cells, according to a press release from the university. The technique resulted in a series of "supercharged" antibiotics, dubbed vancapticins.
As the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports widespread human flu activity in 49 U.S. states, Cornell University's College of Veterinary Medicine has reported an uptick in cases of the canine influenza virus H3N2, most notably in California, Kentucky and Ohio.
You may perceive the world the way your friends do, according to a new study finding that friends have similar neural responses to real-world stimuli and these similarities can be used to predict who your friends are.