Sir

Harder and colleagues recently reported a new peptide antibiotic produced in human skin (Nature 387, 861; 861; 1997) — a fascinating piece of detective work. Their closing statement, however, is giving me nightmares.

They suggest that this and other endogenous human peptide antibiotics “might be ideal therapeutic agents, avoiding the problems of acquired resistance”.

Of course, another antibiotic to turn to when all else fails would, no doubt, temporarily relieve the problems of increasing resistance to the existing antibiotic armoury.

But imagine the consequences if this antibiotic were overused as others have been, and microorganisms developed resistance to it.

This is the stuff of science fiction horror — Satan bugs which have acquired resistance to an endogenous defence mechanism that has been protecting our ancestors for millions of years.

Perhaps this is one agent that should be kept where it belongs, in what is literally the last line of defence — our skin.