2023-05-24-005140

*EMBARGOED UNTIL 19.00 BST, TUES MAY 16 (14.00 ET)* Streptothricin-F (yellow spheres) bound to the 16S rRNA (green) of the bacterial ribosome impinges on the decoding site where tRNA (purple) binds to the codon of the mRNA (blue). This interaction leads to translation infidelity (scrambled protein sequences), and the resulting death of the bacterial cell. The image was created by overlay of PDB 7UVX containing streptothricin-F (this manuscript) with PDB 7K00 containing mRNA and A-site tRNA (ref DOI: 10.7554/eLife.60482). See SWNS story SWSCantibiotic. A discarded 80-year-old antibiotic may provide protection against multi-drug resistant superbugs, according to a new study. It may offer a new way to fight difficult-to-treat and potentially lethal infections, say scientists. Nourseothricin is a natural product made by a soil fungus, which contains several forms of a complex molecule called streptothricin.