antibiotics

Those who have been exposed to someone with whooping cough — but are not yet sick themselves — can also get antibiotics to boost protection against illness.

Despite the need for new antibiotics that target these priority pathogens, scientists don't have many candidates.

Delivering therapies that directly target the bug or its toxins could potentially replace the need for antibiotics that also harm beneficial gut microbes.

Plus, the West had antibiotics — which spread willy-nilly not just in medications, but in toothpaste, lipstick and, perhaps most dangerously, into farm animals to promote growth.

Studying a ribosome variant within Bacillus subtilis called "L22," the researchers found that competition for magnesium hinders the growth of L22 more than a normal "wild type" ribosome that is not resistant to antibiotics.