{
  "id": 9014574,
  "title": "New screening method finds rare DNA gyrase poison for future antibiotics",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/09/21/new-screening-method-finds-rare-dna-gyrase-poison-for-future",
  "topic": "health",
  "section": "Health & Medicine",
  "published": "2026-09-21T21:20:01.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "Phys.org",
    "slug": "phys-org",
    "url": "https://phys.org/news/2026-09-screening-method-rare-dna-gyrase.html"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "Researchers at FIU have developed a high-throughput screening method to identify compounds that can poison bacterial DNA gyrase. While testing this method, they discovered Pyr-AMC, a previously unknown compound with potential as a future antibiotic. DNA gyrase is an enzyme that bacteria need to survive, and it helps untangle and organize DNA during replication. Pyr-AMC can trap DNA gyrase while it is cutting DNA strands, preventing the bacteria from repairing the damage and ultimately causing cell death. Although Pyr-AMC is not potent enough for clinical use yet, it provides a promising scaffold for developing new antibiotics to combat growing antibiotic resistance. Researchers hope to discover new classes of rare gyrase poisons that can be developed into effective treatments.",
  "summary": "The goal was to build a faster way to search for new antibiotics. The search turned up something unexpected. FIU biochemistry professor Fenfei Leng and a group of researchers set out to develop the first high-throughput screening method specifically designed to identify compounds that can poison bacterial DNA gyrase, an enzyme that bacteria need to survive.",
  "key_points": [],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 1,
    "also_reported_by": []
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}