--- title: Scientists Discover New Antibiotic, Could Help Fight Superbugs description: Scientists have discovered a new antibiotic that may help resolve the global fight against drug-resistant bacteria. canonical: https://time.com/3658137/antibiotic-bacteria-teixobactin-superbug/ author: Alexandra Sifferlin article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2015-01-07T19:54:16.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-08-04T08:00:06.172Z article:section: Health og:title: Scientists Discover First New Antibiotic in Years og:description: Could help fight "superbugs" of the future og:url: https://time.com/3658137/antibiotic-bacteria-teixobactin-superbug/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt0d193d14166125f3/698778acf887dc5629e89626/antibiotic.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 5616 og:image:height: 3159 og:image:alt: Scientist holding a Petri dish with bacterial clones og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Scientists Discover First New Antibiotic in Years twitter:description: Could help fight "superbugs" of the future twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt0d193d14166125f3/698778acf887dc5629e89626/antibiotic.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # New Antibiotic Could Help Fight 'Superbugs' of the Future > Sponsored content. 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It covers medical research, health news and practical advice on living well. #### Where can I get reliable health news by email? Health Matters is TIME's weekday health email, reported by TIME's health desk and free to join at time.com/newsletters. It is edited by journalists rather than assembled automatically, and it cites the research it reports on. #### Is Health Matters free? Yes. Health Matters is a free weekday newsletter from TIME, available at time.com/newsletters. #### Who reads TIME's Health Matters newsletter? Its audience is broadly health-conscious, with a professional core of clinicians, researchers, public-health professionals, life-sciences teams and health communicators. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-health-2026q3/newsletters?i=d52f20df-f23f-489b-b498-ab5e6134617c&cr=time-nl-health-2026q3-v1) ## Video: This Flu Shot Is Not Like the Others [Watch (HLS stream): This Flu Shot Is Not Like the Others](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/1thSi60s.m3u8) (2:09)  _Published 2014-10-30. Some people may get a new flu shot that’s made with dog cells instead of chicken eggs_ by [Alexandra Sifferlin](https://time.com/author/alexandra-sifferlin/) ## Alexandra Sifferlin Jan 7, 2015 7:54 PM UTC  Scientist holding a Petri dish with bacterial clones Scientist holding a Petri dish with bacterial clones Getty Images by [Alexandra Sifferlin](https://time.com/author/alexandra-sifferlin/) ## Alexandra Sifferlin Jan 7, 2015 7:54 PM UTC Scientists have [discovered](http://www.nature.com/articles/nature14098.epdf?referrer%5Faccess%5Ftoken=w2hbW83mn-cS%5F5O%5F55zBl9RgN0jAjWel9jnR3ZoTv0PvwA6rMMnycnymQk5ZOpb5ktLjj6cTh7j%5F4Otw8h3aTDVwcvZihZS%5Ff1A5ZzGMA9w0LeQrIxFpLTLggg04DDWp) a new antibiotic that may help turn the tide against the rise of drug-resistant bacteria, or “superbugs”. By using a method that grows bacteria in its native dirt rather than a lab dish, researchers from Northeastern University in Boston were able to identify a new, promising antibiotic called teixobactin, _Nature_ reports. When the researchers tested teixobactin in mice infected with the bacteria Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA)—which causes infections in humans—they reacted favorably and cleared the infection. What’s especially exciting about teixobactin is that the bacteria tested so far has not displayed resistance. Antibiotic resistance is becoming an increasingly problematic public health burden with antibiotic-resistant bacteria [causing](http://www.cdc.gov/drugresistance/national-strategy/) at least 2 million infections and 23,000 deaths in the United States each year. A December [report](http://time.com/3630463/drug-resistant-infections-antibiotics/) warned that superbugs, or bacteria resistant to antibiotics, could kill as many as 10 million people a year by 2050. **MORE:** [Health Workers See Promise in Software to Tackle Drug-Resistant Bacteria](http://time.com/3653464/software-antibiotic-resistance-research/) The study’s authors [speculate](http://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2015/01/a-new-drug-in-the-age-of-antibiotic-resistance/384291/) that teixobactin isn’t as resistant as other antiobiotics because it uses a different mode to attack bacteria, that appears to make resistance less likely. The scientists came across over 20 drug candidates, but teixobactin looks to be the most promising. While it’s not impossible for teixobactin to cause resistance, the researchers conclude that it seems less susceptible. For now it requires further testing to assess its potential for clinical use. ## Transcript [ MUSIC ] This year, your annual flu shot might be more high tech than the ones you've had before. For decades, flu shots could only be made with the help of hundreds of thousands of chicken eggs. Scientists grew the influenza virus in the chicken eggs. Then purified and modified it to go into the flu vaccine. But that process took months for the virus to grow. In 2012 the U. S. Food and Drug Administration approved an entirely new way of making flu vaccines. Bypassing chicken eggs altogether and using animal cells instead. The Novartis Plant in Holly Springs, North Carolina is the only facility in the U. S.. Approved to produce a cell culture- based flu vaccine known as Flucelvax. This Influenza vaccine is grown using cells from dog kidneys. And the process is much faster. Taking 65 to 75 hours. Compared to the months it took to grow with [ UNKNOWN ] [ MUSIC ] The process begins with growing enough kidney cells to serve as the viruses incubators. Over 20 days the cells are put into a culture that encourages them to divide rapidly. And as the cells grow in number they are moved into increasingly larger vats. They start out in 5 liter. Containers and end up in a 5000 liter tank. Once there, the cells are infected with the flu virus. These samples of virus arrive frozen and are chosen each year by the World Health Organization in the spring. They determine which flu strains they believe will be circulating later that year. Year. After the cells produce enough virus, the viral particles are strained out, purified, and treated so they can't actually cause flu but can still alert the immune system to mount a response against the virus. 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