IIT Bombay pioneers DNA aptamer strategy to restore antibiotic effectiveness against resistant bacteria
IIT Bombay researchers Prof Ruchi Anand and Prof P I Pradeepkumar developed DNA aptamers – short synthetic nucleic acid strands – to block bacterial resistance enzymes, resensitizing drug-resistant pathogens to existing antibiotics. Unlike developing new drugs, this practical approach leverages known antibiotic safety profiles while addressing the global antimicrobial resistance crisis through stable, modifiable aptamers.