Researchers at the Universitiy of Oslo may have found a method that can contribute to the battle against multi-resistant bacteria, Norwegian Broadcasting (NRK) reported this this week.
It involves using a computer to go through huge quantities of information about bacteria and analyzing all the possible cell changes that can occur. Researchers hope the method can make it possible to tailor-make medicine directed at certain bacteria, and hinder their reproduction.
“We’re talking about bacteria that cause hundreds of millions of infections annually, and we’re looking at it in the wide perspective,” Jukka Corander, a professor in biostatistics who leads the research group, told NRK.
“I think this is a very interesting approach,” Dr Egil Lingaas, an expert on infections at Norway’s national hospital Rikshospitalet, told NRK. “If you can avoid treating other bacteria that don’t need to be treated, it’s an advantage.”
Too much use of antibioticas over the years has led to the big increase in multi-resistant bacteria that no longer respond to what once was a wonder drug. The World Health Organization (WHO) has labelled the problem as a real worldwide threat. The Norwegian government is also making research into anti-resistant bacteria a high priority.
newsinenglish.no staff
