JERUSALEM, Feb. 22 (Xinhua) -- Researchers from Israel and China have developed the first biological substitute for the treatment of tuberculosis, Tel Aviv University (TAU) in central Israel said on Monday.

The new treatment could serve as an alternative for the traditional "chemical" antibiotic therapy, solving the problem of drug-resistant germs, TAU said.

"This is the first time in history that researchers have managed to develop a 'biological antibiotic' and demonstrate that human antibodies can act as a substitute for the traditional chemical antibiotics," said the university.

In a study, led by TAU and China's Tsinghua University and published in the journal Nature Communications, the researchers succeeded in isolating monoclonal antibodies (derived from single cells), which hindered the growth of tuberculosis germs in laboratory mice.

Human antibodies, which are proteins produced naturally by the body's immune response following infection or a vaccine, harbor many advantages such as specificity, stability, and safety.

Following the success of the study, the team is now investigating the possibility of extending the biological substitute for antibiotics to include other diseases such as pneumonia and staphylococcus infections.