Is the antibiotic of the future hiding under our feet?

What if you were the co-inventor of the next antibiotic? For that, it is not necessary to return to a long study course. all you have to do is pick up a little soil on your next walk and send it to Paris, Inserm’s Evolution and Dynamic Systems Engineering Laboratory – Paris Cité University, which just this week launched the “Science à la shovel” initiative. “More than 80% of antibiotics in today’s prescriptions come from bacteria that live in the soil.– recalls Vincent Libis, co-author of the project. Therefore, it is the best substrate to analyze if we want to have a chance of finding new antibiotic molecules.”

And the need is urgent. Antibiotic resistance is on the rise and poses a very real health threat. They are already responsible for more than 1.2 million deaths a year, according to a recent study published in the journal. The Lancet. “According to the World Health Organization, in 2050 this number may approach 10 million.