This year, a new antibiotic was discovered while analyzing soil samples. These findings offer hope for treating bacterial infections that are now resistant to older antibiotics. An antibiotic is made up of molecules derived from substances with which microbes wage war against each other. Antibiotics help them eliminate their competitors. That’s why they produce them. “We just copy them”, explains Marc-André Selosse.
The problem is, we don’t know much about microbes, especially those in the soil. For reference, one gram of soil contains several thousands of species of bacteria and one thousand species of fungi. Some of them represent a fabulous reserve of curative molecules. These molecules are to be discovered or developed. Microbes also protect and preserve plants and, therefore, our agricultural production.