Dr Andrea Weisse, from the University of Edinburgh’s Schools of Biological Sciences and Informatics, who led the research, highlighted the urgency of the situation.
“Bacteria are clever little things. They have been learning how to dodge our antibiotics, and they are getting better at it all the time,” she said.
“If we don’t find new drugs – or new tricks to outsmart them – we are in trouble. What we are trying to do here is really understand how their defence systems work. Once we see the mechanism clearly, we can figure out smarter ways to beat them and treat infections more effectively.”
