LA JOLLA, CALIFORNIA — U.S. scientists have modified a 60-year-old drug to create an ultra-tough antibiotic. Researchers hope this new antibiotic will be able to fight bacteria that are resistant to drugs currently available on the market. <br /> <br />Scientists at Scripps Research Institute modified antibiotic vancomycin so that it can overcome the present resistance and added two ways to kill vancomycin-resistant enterococci bacteria, otherwise known as VRE. <br /> <br />“Organisms just can't simultaneously work to find a way around three independent mechanisms of action. Even if they found a solution to one of those, the organisms would still be killed by the other two,” lead researcher Dr. Dale Boger told the BBC. <br /> <br />The modified vancomycin is 1,000-fold more powerful than before and has been proven to be able to kill the VRE bacteria in the lab. <br /> <br />Vancomycin-resistant enterococci is commonly found in hospitals. It can cause dangerous wound and bloodstream infections.
