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New test measures real effectiveness of antibiotics

by | Jan 12, 2026 | Health, Research

Researchers at the University of Basel have developed a method that, for the first time, directly measures the killing of bacteria by antibiotics and not just their growth inhibition.

The Antimicrobial Single-Cell Test observes millions of individual bacteria microscopically over days and records what proportion is eliminated by a therapy. Tested on tuberculosis pathogens and samples from 400 patients with related infections, it showed differences in the effectiveness of therapies and strains. Genetic factors determine the tolerance at which germs survive antibiotics.

Staphylococcus aureus. Photo: US Agricultural Research Service/ Wikimedia Commons
Staphylococcus aureus. Photo: US Agricultural Research Service/ Wikimedia Commons

The results correlate strongly with therapeutic successes in studies and animal models. In the future, the test could enable personalized therapies, improve drug development and provide new approaches against bacterial survival strategies.

Original Paper:

Alexander Jovanovic, Frederick K. Bright, Ahmad Sadeghi et al.
Large-scale testing of antimicrobial lethality at single-cell resolution predicts mycobacterial infection outcomes
Nature Microbiology (2026)

Large-scale testing of antimicrobial lethality at single-cell resolution predicts mycobacterial infection outcomes | Nature Microbiology


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