Researchers have released an astounding catalog of previously unseen genomes along with at least two new promising broad-spectrum antibiotics thanks to these creative new approaches. Sean F. Brady and Jan Burian have been at the helm of a revolutionary project in microbiology. This research marks a major step forward in the battle against antibiotic-resistant bacteria. Their pioneering work has brought to light a whole world of hidden bacterial diversity. It also leads to promising opportunities for taking these findings in new translational directions toward novel therapeutic applications.
Brady’s research is unique due to the intersection of discovery with the ability to leverage that discovery into practical applications. The main advancement of their methods—which they’ve since published—is that they allow researchers to extract large, intricate DNA sequences from soil samples. This important process one step removes the wild card bioactive compounds, allowing researchers to focus on possible antibiotic candidates. Multidrug resistance is a serious, increasing global health threat. The implications of these findings are truly timely and need in combatting this occurrence.
A New Methodology for Discovery
The creative new approach pioneered by Brady and Burian uses terabase-scale long-read sequencing of soil metagenomes. This advanced approach has already yielded significant results, including the identification of broad-spectrum antibiotics—substances that can combat a wide range of bacteria. Other broad-spectrum antibiotics play a significant role in the war on antibiotic resistance. They are an important asset in today’s microbiological research.
“The vast majority of bacteria are unculturable—that’s the overall problem,” Brady noted. He highlighted what a difficult task it is for researchers to grow the bacteria that could be the next antibiotic. “Here I think we’ve provided a strong potential solution to one question that this field has been asking for 150 years: there are untold microbes out there in the world that we can’t see. How do we begin to observe them?”
Now integrated into our drug discovery workflow, this new methodology allows us to identify the most promising antibiotic candidates. It dares us to investigate the enormous world of soil microbes that remains mostly unexamined. More than 99% of soil bacteria can’t survive under lab conditions. This study marks a new chapter of unlocking their therapeutic potential.
Implications for Antibiotic Development
The discovery of broad-spectrum antibiotics was one of the most important breakthroughs both within microbiology and, indeed, in all of medicine. Finally, these antibiotics can treat many of the common infections that impact all social strata. They meet an urgent medical need as doctors continue to struggle against the increasing threat of multidrug-resistant pathogens.
Our first major breakthrough came when Jan realized he could extract huge DNA sequences from soil, Brady said. This finding inspired some intriguing new directions for our investigation. He further elaborated, “If we can’t culture the bacteria themselves, then we need to assemble their genomes somehow, and it’s much simpler to do that using big DNA strands rather than stringing together little fragments.” This methodological innovation allows researchers to explore deeper into the genetic blueprints of soil bacteria, revealing opportunities for new drug discovery.
Burian shared enthusiasm for the wider significance of their results. And, honestly, it’s pretty cool that we ended up finding so much more than that. Our lab is highly interested in small molecule based antibiotic discovery. As important as they are in our understanding of disease, microbes hold the key to understanding how our world works,” he said. Its potential applications reach far beyond medicine, opening a new lens for studying ecological interactions, ecosystem function and biodiversity.
A New Era in Microbiology
As this research advances, Brady and Burian’s efforts may signal the beginning of a new microbiological discovery age. Their results unexpectedly uncover never-before-seen antibiotic candidates. Perhaps most importantly, they call attention to the essential roles soil microbes play in many ecological processes that positively impact human life.
“There’s no place more familiar than soil—you played in it when you were a kid,” Brady remarked. He explained that even though we think we know everything about soil, it is still the least explored ecosystem. “All over the world there’s this ecosystem of microbes, which probably have dramatic effects on our lives that we don’t yet understand.”
There are tremendous, profound implications if one were to understand these microbial communities. Yet its potential influence on key issues including climate change, agriculture and health is profound. Take, for example, the way researchers are unlocking the genetic secrets hidden in soil. Their mission is to find the next generation of antibiotics while enriching our understanding of bacteria’s natural roles as ecological stewards.