From the article: "Crucially, the scientists believe that bacteria will not become resistant to Teixobactin for at least 30 years because of its multiple methods of attack."
Can anyone tell me what would happen if we instead _only_ used this new antibiotic, or at least used it instead of others as often as possible? If it is indeed so potent that bacteria would have difficulty developing a resistance, could we essentially use that window to let resistances to all the other antibiotics die out?
The bacteria has had far more than 30 years to develop resistance, and it could do it in stages. We don't know how many other bacteria over the gigayears managed to poison itself.
True, but for one, the antibiotic will be produced and used in really large doses once it enters the market, meaning there are trillions of bacterial cells encountering it, which raises the likelihood of development of resistance. And second, horizontal gene transfer between bacteria means different strains of bacteria can cooperate in defeating it (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Horizontal_gene_transfer)
Resistances do die out; they typically aren't free to acquire. However, I suppose it's likely that a mere 30 years isn't enough to extinguish all traces, especially since it's impossible to really mandate a world-wide ban on certain antibiotics. So even if resistance is reduced, it's possible it'll to come back quickly.
Can anyone tell me what would happen if we instead _only_ used this new antibiotic, or at least used it instead of others as often as possible? If it is indeed so potent that bacteria would have difficulty developing a resistance, could we essentially use that window to let resistances to all the other antibiotics die out?