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Ling LL, Schneider T et al. Nature 2015; 517: 455–459.

More recently, synthetic techniques have been used to develop new antibiotics. However, these antibiotics have not been able to fill the gap left by those now rendered effete. These earlier antibiotics were screened from soil microorganisms and these were overmined by the 1960s. The investigators of this research, which is of the highest impact, report the discovery of a new antibiotic which they named teixobactin. It was discovered after screening previously uncultured microorgansms. These were grown using an elegant and exacting method. In summary, soil was diluted and single bacterial cells were covered by semi-permeable membranes, contained within a device. This device, named the i-Chip, was placed back into soil for one month. Teixobactin, produced from a new genus related to Aquabacteria, inhibits cell wall synthesis by binding lipid II and lipid III. Lipid II is the precursor of peptidoglycan and described as an 'Achilles heel' for antibiotic attack. Lipid III is the precursor of cell wall teichoic acid.