Antibiotic resistance fight could get a little help from ants. Here's why

Millions of years of evolution in a high-risk environment have made ants a potential source of vital antimicrobials

The world is facing an antibiotics crisis. Due to overuse, many once-powerful drugs are now useless against certain strains of serious bacterial infections. So scientists are on the hunt for new ways to attack harmful microbes.

One possibility is to investigate how other species have evolved ways to defend themselves. A new study highlights how most ants, even from small colonies, produce antimicrobial chemicals in their bodily secretions. It also suggests those ants that don’t make these substances are likely to have some other method of controlling bacteria that