Bacteria Research: Bacterium capable of aquifer decontamination characterized ♦ Study reveals a key role your gut bacteria play in body's self-defense ♦ Developing tools to find new generation antibiotics

Developing tools to find new generation antibiotics Scientists have taken an important step in the search to find new antibiotics that are effective against resistant bacteria. The work, scientists say, will provide new tools for creating stable genetically engineered strains which could lead to improvements to existing antibiotics and the development of new ones.

Study quantifies threat of rising antibiotic resistance on surgery, chemotherapy Researchers report the strongest evidence yet that rising antibiotic resistance could have disastrous consequences for patients undergoing surgery or cancer chemotherapy. New estimates suggest that up to half of infections after surgery and over a quarter of infections after chemotherapy are caused by organisms already resistant to standard prophylactic antibiotics in the USA.

Bacterium capable of aquifer decontamination characterized, cultivated for first time in Europe Researchers have identified in the Besòs river estuary (Barcelona, Spain) a bacterium of the genus Dehalogenimonas, which has the capacity to transform toxic organochlorine compounds into others that are harmless. These experts have succeeded in characterizing and cultivating these bacteria for the first time in Europe, which opens the door to their production and application to contaminated aquifers.

Study reveals a key role your gut bacteria play in body's self-defense Human intestinal flora regulates the levels of the body's main antioxidant, glutathione, which fights a host of diseases, new research confirms. The findings could lead to new probiotic-delivering foods, and a better understanding of the metabolic processes behind diseases such as type 2 diabetes.