Three billion-year-old proteins resurrected Washington, Feb 28 :
Scientists have resurrected two to three billion-year-old
proteins from which the enzymes that armour superbugs against
antibiotics have descended. The achievement opens the door to a
scientific "replay" of the evolution of antibiotic resistance
with an eye to finding new ways to cope with the problem. Jose
M. Sanchez-Ruiz, Valeria A. Risso, from the University of
Granada, Spain and Eric A. Gaucher, Georgia Institute of
Technology explain that antibiotic resistance existed long
before Alexander Fleming discovered the first antibiotic in
1928, the Journal of the American Chemical Society reports.
Genes that contain instructions for making the proteins
responsible for antibiotic resistance have been found in
30,000-year-old permafrost sediment and other ancient sites,
according to a Granada and Georgia statement. Their research
focused on the so-called beta-lactamases, enzymes responsible
for resistance to the family of antibiotics that includes p