The Drugs of the Future Are in the Animals of the Past

Advances in the recovery of ancient DNA from fossils have opened up a new front in the fight against drug-resistant superbugs. A group led by César de la Fuente, PhD, a Presidential Assistant Professor in Psychiatry, Microbiology, Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, and Bioengineering, mines this genetic information from Neanderthals and ice age creatures such as the woolly mammoth and giant sloth for molecules they believe to have bacteria-fighting powers.