Targeted Killer

Infection with the bacteria Chlamydia trachomatis (shown here coloured purple inside a human cell) is one of the most common forms of sexually transmitted disease, with tens of millions of new cases diagnosed globally each year. Infections can often be asymptomatic but, if severe and untreated, they can lead to fertility problems in both men and women. A course of oral antibiotics is the standard treatment for chlamydia. But, not only do such antibiotics wipe out the body’s friendly bacteria, there's also growing concern about the increasing prevalence of antibiotic resistance. To find new compounds that can selectively target the chlamydia bugs without damaging either human cells or beneficial bacteria, scientists have screened a library of more than 35,000 small molecules. They found a handful of candidate compounds that fit the bill and have now selected the most potent chlamydia-specific killer for further testing and drug development.

Written by Ruth Williams

Ruth Williams

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Ruth is a freelance science journalist based in the US. She's a regular correspondent for The Scientist, and her work has appeared in The Lancet, Nature, Scientific American Mind, BBC Focus and elsewhere. Twitter @rooph

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• Image by Lana Jachman relating to work by Magnus Ölander and colleagues in PLOS Biology, April 2025
• Department of Molecular Biology, Umeå University, Umeå, Sweden
• Image copyright held by Lana Jachman
• Research published in PLOS Biology, April 2025