How a narrow-spectrum antibiotic takes aim at C. diff

Most antibiotics are double-edged swords — while killing bacteria, they also decimate beneficial bacteria and change the composition of the gut microbiome. The answer to this problem might be narrow-spectrum antibiotics. UW–Madison scientists took a close look at one such antibiotic using cryo-EM. Their findings are detailed in Nature.

Venturelli R21 to provide major advance for personalized microbiome therapies

Clostridioides difficile, an antibiotic-resistant intestinal pathogen, is the leading cause of hospital-acquired infections in the United States. Treatment of a Clostridioides difficile, also known as C. difficile, infection may include courses of antibiotics or fecal transplants in which the fecal sample of a healthy donor is transplanted into a patient with C. difficile. These treatments …