A compound extracted from a deep-water marine sponge collected near the Bahamas is showing potent antibacterial activity against the drug resistant bacteria methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA). Also called the “super bug,” MRSA bacteria are resistant to all beta-lactam antibiotics such as methicillin, penicillin, oxacillin and amoxicillin and can be fatal. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, more than 80,000 invasive MRSA infections and 11,285 related deaths occur every year. Results of the study, led by researchers at Florida Atlantic University’s Harbor Branch Oceanographic Institute, are published in the current issue of the journal Marine Drugs.