Credit: Jenny Fontaine/UIC New high-resolution structures of the bacterial ribosome determined by researchers at the University of Illinois Chicago show that a single water molecule may be the cause -- and possible solution -- of antibiotic resistance. The findings of the new UIC study are published in the journal Nature Chemical Biology. Pathogenic germs become resistant to antibiotics when they develop the ability to defeat the drugs designed to kill them. Each year in the U.S., millions of people suffer from antibiotic-resistant infections, and thousands of people die as a result. Developing new drugs is a key way the scientific community is trying to reduce the impact of antibiotic resistance.