Scripps

Researchers at The Scripps Research Institute in La Jolla, California, modified vancomycin, invented 60 years ago and considered a last-resort treatment against many of these infections. They made a key change to its molecular structure, interfering with how the bacterium, enterococcus, makes protective cell walls.

The modification is in addition to two previous changes made by the Scripps team that improved the drug’s potency, so less of it is needed to treat an infection.