The best futuristic ideas for killing drug-resistant bacteria.
...These warning signs... may make us wish for a gorillacillin—a superdrug—that could destroy any bug under the sun. But as the National Academy of Sciences pointed out last year, such a remedy is unlikely to emerge. And if one did, it would probably be used so widely that resistant strains would quickly evolve. Instead, the future seems to lie with treatments that target specific bacteria by taking cues from how they behave in nature, modulating the human immune system, or intervening boldly in bacterial genetics. Some of these approaches may substitute for antibiotics; others could extend the usefulness of the drugs we have. Here are some of the best big ideas ranked on a scale of 1 to 10, based on their potential promise and sheer intellectual chutzpah.
Since one of these bugs nearly did me in last year, I read this with special interest.
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