Newly identified enzyme treats deadly bacterial infections in mice

By the time antibiotics made their clinical debut 70 years ago, bacteria had long evolved strategies to shield themselves. For billions of years, bacteria hurled toxic molecules at each other in the struggle to prosper, and those that withstood the chemical onslaught marched on. Now, with an uptick in antibiotic-resistant bacteria reaching alarming proportions, Rockefeller University scientists have identified an enzyme produced in viruses (called bacteriophages) that could stop these one-celled powerhouses dead in their tracks.