A group of US scientists from Rockefeller University, have discovered a new family of antibiotics in soil samples, which could be used to combat hard-to-treat infections.
In the study published in Nature Microbiology, the scientists expressed optimism that, the discovery offers fresh hope in the antibiotics arms race.
Tests results show the natural compounds, called malacidins, annihilate several bacterial diseases that have become resistant to most existing antibiotics, including the superbug MRSA.
Drug-resistant diseases are one of the greatest threats to global health.
New treatments are urgently needed in the fight against such diseases which are responsible for killing up to 700,000 people yearly.
Soil is teeming with millions of diverse micro-organisms that produce lots of potentially therapeutic compounds, including new antibiotics.
Dr Sean Brady's team of scientists used a gene sequencing technique to analyse more than 1,000 soil samples taken from across the US.
When they discovered malacidins in many of the samples, they tested the compound on rats that they had given MRSA and it eliminated the infection in skin wounds.
The researchers are now working to improve the drug's efficiency in the hope that it can be developed into a real treatment for people.
"It is impossible to say when, or even if, an early stage antibiotic discovery like the malacidins will proceed to the clinic," said Dr Brady.
"It is a long, arduous road from the initial discovery of an antibiotic to a clinically used entity."
