News & Stories

A research team from the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST) has developed the world’s most productive chemical synthesis which could yield antibiotic anthracimycin and anthracimycin B that is 63 times more than current method.  The breakthrough greatly advances the development of anthracimycin-based antibiotics to combat the deadly bacteria infections caused by antibiotic-resistant bacteria and even superbugs.

Researchers at The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST) have identified for the first time the culprit behind the causing of broad-spectrum bacterial resistance to peptide antibiotics - widely perceived as the last-line of defense against antibiotic-resistant bacteria, opening a new direction to the design of new drugs in tackling superbugs. The discovery – made by Chair Professor from the Division of Life Science Prof Qian Pei-Yuan and his fellow researchers, came in the best moment as the team has also discovered that this enzyme, which they identified as the cause of broad-spectrum bacteria resistance against peptide antibiotics, was actually found in not just a few, but many different strains of bacteria, sounding an alarm against persistent improper use of antibiotics.