Researchers from the NYU School of Medicine are seeking to combat antibiotic resistance by making resistant bacteria more vulnerable to current antibiotics. They discovered that bacteria produce hydrogen sulfide as a means to counter the effects of antibiotics. Antibiotics cause bacteria to undergo oxidative stress, which has toxic effects on the microbes. The study revealed that bacteria produce hydrogen sulfide as a way to protect themselves against oxidative stress and antibiotics. The development of new drugs to target bacterial gas defenses could lead to the reversal of antibiotic resistance in pathogens such as Staphylococcus and E.coli .