Bacteria are increasingly becoming resistant to #antibiotics we use to treat #infections, so what can we do to overcome the #superbugs? While a #NCStateCALS undergrad, Omar Halawani studied 20 #ant species, and found the #thiefant produced the strongest #antimicrobials. But he was surprised to find that 40 percent of the species did not produce any. It’s interesting that some subset of ants is making these antibiotics and that could lead to the study of #biologicals that could turn into #medicine for us. But it would also be interesting to find out if they have alternative strategies to resist infection. — Omar Halawani