The first "living drug": "living drug" invented to treat drug-resistant infections

Researchers from the Center for Genome Regulation (CRG) and Pulmobiotics SL created the first "living drug" to treat antibiotic-resistant bacteria that grow on the surface of medical implants

The experimental treatment was tested on infection catheters in vitro, in vitro and in vivo, and successfully treated infections for all three test methods

This discovery is an important first step in the development of new treatments for infections affecting medical implants such as catheters, pacemakers, and prosthetic joints

The research was published today in the journal Molecular Systems Biology

This new treatment specifically targets biofilms, which are groups of bacterial cells attached to the surface

Staphylococcus aureus is one of the most common biofilm-related bacteria

The authors of the study hypothesized that introducing organisms that directly produce enzymes near biofilms is a safer and cheaper way to treat infections

The researchers chose to modify Mycoplasma pneumoniae, a common bacteria that lacks cell walls, to make it easier to release therapeutic molecules that fight infections, while helping it evade detection by the human immune system

First, the Mycoplasma pneumoniae is modified so that it does not cause disease

The researchers' primary goal is to use this modified bacteria to treat the biofilm around the breathing tube, because Mycoplasma pneumoniae naturally adapts to the lungs

The modified bacteria may also be used in other diseases for a long time

DOI

10.

Article title

Engineering a genome-reduced bacterium to eliminate Staphylococcus aureus biofilms in vivo