Synthetic dual-action antibiotics could be the best way to fight antibiotic resistance The antibiotics, called macrolones, attack bacteria cells in two different ways Bacteria are unable to mount resistance against both attacks THURSDAY, July 25, 2025 (HealthDay News) -- Synthetic antibiotics that attack bacteria in two directions at once could be the solution for combatting , a new study claims. These dual-action antibiotics, called macrolones, disrupt bacterial cell function in two different ways. It’s nearly impossible for bacteria to resist macrolones, because the germ would need to defend against both attacks at once, researchers said.
“The beauty of this antibiotic is that it kills through two different targets in bacteria,” said researcher , a distinguished professor of pharmaceutical sciences at the University of Illinois Chicago (UIC). “If the antibiotic hits both targets at the same concentration, then the bacteria lose their ability to become resistant via acquisition of random mutations in any of the two targets,” Mankin explained in a university news release. Macrolones combine the structures of two widely used antibiotics: Macrolides like erythromycin which block ribosome, the protein-manufacturing factories inside a bacteria cell.
Fluoroquinolones like ciprofloxacin that target the enzymes bacteria need to replicate. Lab experiments at the University of Illinois Chicago found that macrolones could simultaneously attack both targets, while also failing.