Scientists have investigated the properties of a soil in Northern Ireland long thought to have medicinal properties, and found it to contain a previously unknown strain of bacteria which wipes out four of the six top antibiotic resistant superbugs, including MRSA. They named the new strain Streptomyces sp. myrophorea. The soil was traditionally used by the Druids and Neolithic people to treat such ailments as toothache, throat and neck infections. This discovery provides further validation for the ethnopharmacological sources of medicines. The findings were published in the journal Frontiers in Microbiology.