The future is dirt. A research team at Rockefeller University has found a potential new class of antibiotics in soil, named malacidins, that can effectively fight superbugs. Antibiotic resistance is a growing threat to the world. According to the CDC, in the U.S. alone 2 million people become infected with antibiotic resistant bacteria and over 3,000 people die each year as a result.  WIRED does a good job of describing the potentially very real grim future:

We’re rewinding to a world where death begins in childbirth, where premature babies die, where newborns go blind from gonorrhea. Routine injuries become life-threatening infections. You could lose a limb, or your life, from a careless slip with a paring knife or an accidental fall in India. The risks of organ transplants and medical implants would outweigh any potential benefit. Go in for routine dental surgery and end up in a body bag.

Too dark? The WHO has a very cute 1 minute video explaining the basics of antibiotic resistance with giant cartoon superbugs. Scientists have been on a race against time to find new antibiotics.

The research team, led by Dr. Sean Brady, tested the compounds on a rat infected with MRSA, and were able to eliminate the infection. However, Dr. Brady says, “It is a long, arduous road from the initial discovery of an antibiotic to a clinically used entity.” But he is optimistic about the future of antibiotics, and says, “Our idea is, there’s this reservoir of antibiotics out in the environment we haven’t accessed yet.”