The advances made in the pharma sector are well documented. Whether we are looking at drug development for stopping smoking or the latest cancer fighting formulations, the range of groundbreaking pharmaceutical products continues to increase improving the health and well-being of us all. The routes to and behind the latest drug developments are highly interesting, especially when they come from sources close to home.
A study from Edinburgh University recently highlighted that new discoveries about what helps bacteria thrive in soil could aid the search for new drugs to fight infections. Researchers have found that bugs’ ability to prosper in the earth is more complex than previously thought and the study challenges the existing theory that bacteria can only thrive in their natural environment. According to scientists, bacteria in soil produce potential biological agents for defence that kill fungi and other bugs and these can be developed as antibiotic drugs. How factors in soil interact dictates where bacteria are found and understanding them better could provide researchers with a clearer picture of how soil ecosystems function. This could help scientists increase yields from crop harvest and enable researchers to identify antimicrobial agents that could be developed as new antibiotics.