Methicillin-resistance Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) is a bacterium that generally causes difficult to treat infections in humans.  Beta-lactam antibiotics attack agents that contain the Beta-lactam ring, successfully inhibiting bacterial wall synthesis and eventually killing the bacterium. Bacteria then develop a resistance to the drug by synthesizing Beta-lactamase, an enzyme which attacks the Beta-lactam ring. Beta-lactam antibiotics include penicillins and cephalosporins. Patients that have open wounds or lower immune systems are especially prone to contracting MRSA infections.

MRSA’s are consistently on the minds of antibiotic producers, as only a very narrow spectrum of drugs currently can be prescribed to combat them. Harmful bacteria has been considered one of humanity’s greatest threats, with UK Chief Medical Officer describing them as “[a] ticking time bomb that threatens national security”.  The Infectious Disease Society of America has “expressed concern that the rate of antibiotic development to counter resistance is insufficient”. In a bit of good news, a recent article described the discovery of a new antibiotic.   As a result, the finding of a novel antibiotic is extremely rare, especially against a resistant organism, and in this case is considered to be a relatively progressive advance in modern antibiotics. The anthracimycin was derived from a deep ocean Streptomyces bacterium, and has initially shown active destruction against both MRSA’s and anthrax. As the findings are still relatively knew, the process of anthracimycin has yet to be fully researched, but so far scientists have concluded that the unique chemical and physical components of anthracimycin seem to disrupt the replication processes of both MRSA’s and anthrax.

The discovery of the anthracimycin derivative brings hope in the present day struggle of synthesizing antibiotics to combat the ever-evolving harmful microbes. The discovery generates new potential for materials that can be found in the sea, and ideally aid in human efforts to find other such antibiotics in the unchartered ocean. However, the over prescription and usage of anthracimycin will undoubtedly force MRSA’s and anthrax to evolve to a state in which the drug is no longer effective, a central theme in the struggle against finding long term antibiotics.