Predatory bacteria potential weapon against superbugs, research finds

A study, published in Current Biology, has suggested predatory bacteria, a bacteria which feeds off other bacteria, could be a new way to fight superbugs.

Researchers at Imperial College London and the University of Nottingham tried using Bdellovibrio bacteriovorus to kill a common cause of food poisoning. Shigella bacteria causes around160 million people per year to fall ill, and more than a million die, largely through contaminated food.

Tests in a laboratory dish showed the predatory bacteria caused the population of superbug Shigella to reduce significantly. A test on fish larvae showed a deadly dose of the superbug led to only 25 per cent surviving for three days. However, when the fish larvae were also exposed to the predator, survival soared to 60 per cent.

Dr Serge Mostowy, from Imperial College London, commented: "It is definitely a creative approach and what is special is the inability of the host to develop resistance."

He added: "It's an important milestone in research into the use of a living antibiotic that could be used in animals and humans."

Dr Michael Chew, from the Wellcome Trust medical research body, said: "It may be unusual to use a bacterium to get rid of another, but in the light of the looming threat from drug-resistant infections the potential of beneficial bacteria-animal interactions should not be overlooked.

"We are increasingly relying on last-line antibiotics, and this innovative study demonstrates how predatory bacteria could be an important additional tool to drugs in the fight against resistance."