classes of antibiotics

Drug-resistant bacterial infections are a growing concern, and much research has been devoted to finding new classes of antibiotics to fight them.

Stanford researchers may have found some answers in peptoids, a class of manmade molecules very similar to natural proteins that play an important role in the human immune system.

Scientists have identified the role of two proteins that contribute to disease-causing bacteria cells' versatility in resisting certain classes of antibiotics.

The finding is a step toward development of drug therapies that could target bacterial resistance at its cellular source.

Before researchers can design such drugs, they must understand all of the activities at play in the conflict between bacteria and the agents that kill them.