Scientists from A*STAR Infectious Diseases Labs (A*STAR IDL), Nanyang Technological University, Singapore’s Lee Kong Chian School of Medicine (LKCMedicine), the National University of Singapore (NUS), and international collaborators have uncovered how Mycobacterium abscessus—a bacterium that causes serious lung infections—can evade bacteriophage (phage) therapy, and demonstrated a combination strategy to overcome this resistance, offering a pathway toward more effective and durable treatments. The study was published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is an escalating health challenge that is expected to place growing strain on health care systems worldwide. As AMR continues to erode the effectiveness of existing antibiotics—with one in six bacterial infections worldwide now resistant to antibiotics—scientists are accelerating efforts to develop new countermeasures such as phage therapy, which uses viruses to target bacteria. These efforts are important for strengthening global health and infectious disease preparedness.