Scientists isolate salinipeptins from a bacterium living in America’s Dead Sea
A new family of peptides bearing an unprecedented number of the biologically highly unusual D-amino acids – as opposed to the far more common L-isomer – has been discovered by sifting through sediment from the Great Salt Lake in Utah. These salinipeptins are not just an oddity either, they have been found to have antibiotic and antitumour activity.