Imagine one day you come down with a simple infection, and the antibiotic prescribed by your doctor stops working. While this may sound like a far-fetched scenario, it is a reality that is becoming increasingly common around the world.
Every year, hundreds of thousands of people lose their lives to infections that were once easily treatable. This is because bacteria have become strong enough to resist the drugs we know. So what does it take to win this race? We need to develop new weapons. But to do that, we first need to understand the enemy from the inside.
That's exactly what Dr. Merve Yüce, Professor Dr. Fethiye Aylin Sungur, and Professor Dr. Özge Kürkçüoğlu from Istanbul Technical University (ITÜ) are doing. All three are women, all three are Turkish, and all three are from ITÜ. And the study they published this April marks a world first in this field.
In fact, the prestigious American journal Biochemistry, where the study was published, selected this article as the cover story for its special issue on "The Chemistry and Biology of Peptides."
The battle against antibiotic resistance will be won not by a single miracle drug, but through cumulative discoveries. This team is contributing to that body of knowledge both from the drawing board and the laboratory bench. And they're doing it from Istanbul, from ITÜ.
Every living cell contains a tiny machine. This machine is called a ribosome. It has a single function: to produce the proteins the cell needs. Without proteins, bacteria cannot live, reproduce or cause disease.
The ribosome is also known as a molecular machine. Antibiotics interfere with the proper functioning of the components used by the ribosome to produce proteins. Antibiotics act like an obstacle wedged between the moving parts. In other words, they stop the machine from working. They attach themselves to a part of the machine, halt production and the bacterium dies. Streptomycin, erythromycin and tetracycline all work this way.
But bacteria are clever. Over time, they've learned to defend against these attacks. They slightly alter the part of the machine under attack and produce defense molecules that render the antibiotic ineffective. As a result, the drug can no longer find a place to bind. So what should be done? Look for targets that have never been targeted before.
This is exactly what Kürkçüoğlu, Sungur and Yüce are doing. But instead of using test tubes to search for drugs, they're working with computers.
Think of it this way: You have thousands of keys in your hand, and you're trying to unlock a door. Trying every key one by one would take years. But if you upload a 3D model of the keys and the lock to a computer and ask, "Which one fits?" you'll get the answer in a few hours. That's exactly what this team is doing; only finding the locks is much harder, because the target is an extraordinarily complex structure.
In this study, each contributor's role carries a distinct weight.
Kürkçüoğlu is the group's founder and the architect of the idea. For years, she has been investigating the ribosome's hidden communication pathways, striving to understand how a molecule binding to one location affects the other end of the "factory."
Sungur is the guarantor of the methodology. She verifies that the calculations align with biological reality and validates the software protocols.
Yüce is the researcher who performed all the computations for this study. She personally conducted all the computational analyses and drafted the first version of the paper.
The paths of all three crossed at ITÜ. And this April, they published two separate papers simultaneously; the second appeared in the journal RSC Advances, again with female researchers from ITÜ, and again in the same field. An inhibitor predicted in that study was tested in the laboratory and was found to be effective.
It is a great opportunity for Türkiye to have such valuable scientists come together for this project. It dramatically shortens the most expensive and time-consuming stage in the antibiotic development process, namely, the question of which molecule to focus on.
Whereas traditional drug discovery involves testing thousands of compounds through blind trial and error, this team's approach offers candidates that have been pre-screened through computation and have a clear biological rationale.
Both companies developing new antibiotics and groups researching resistance mechanisms against existing antibiotics can benefit directly from this framework.
On the materials science side, the defense industry and the agricultural sector, due to their impact on production, can derive significant benefits from this work. In other words, this scientific research is producing results of such depth that they will pave the way for the emergence of numerous unicorn startups.
Türkiye's largest and highest-capacity Wi-Fi network operator, Türk Telekom, offered free internet access throughout the day at more than 7,000 locations across all 81 provinces to mark World Wi-Fi Day on June 20.
Global internet usage also continues to break records. According to 2025 data, there are now 6.04 billion internet users worldwide, representing an increase of approximately 9.8% from the previous year.
With 96% of the world's population accessing the internet through mobile devices, Wi-Fi's role in enabling that connectivity has become even more critical.
From the Atatürk Cultural Center (AKM), a major hub for arts and culture, to museums, libraries, stadiums and public transportation networks, Türk Telekom continues to provide seamless Wi-Fi access across a wide range of public spaces.
Operating under its principle of "accessible communication for everyone," Türk Telekom's Wi-Fi network continues to attract strong demand.
According to the company's 2025 figures, 54 million users consumed a total of 35 million GB of data through TT Wi-Fi hot spots, highlighting the growing importance of reliable and accessible public connectivity.
Zeynep Özden, Türk Telekom's deputy general manager in charge of marketing and customer experience, said they bring their customers together with the most advanced and innovative technologies while offering a digital ecosystem that addresses their evolving needs through the services they develop.
"As part of this vision, we are connecting Türkiye with end-to-end fiber infrastructure and delivering high-speed internet across all 81 provinces. We are delighted to make our nationwide Wi-Fi network available free of charge at thousands of locations on World Wi-Fi Day," Özden said.
"Guided by our people-centric strategy, we will continue to bring the latest technologies and the full benefits of the digital world to our customers."
As nearly 6 billion people around the world rely on Wi-Fi to access the internet, cumulative shipments of Wi-Fi 6-enabled devices have surpassed 5.2 billion units.
Growing demand for faster and more reliable connectivity is driving operators to accelerate investments in broader, higher-capacity network infrastructure.
The number of public Wi-Fi hot spots worldwide is expected to reach approximately 950 million in 2025 and is projected to grow at a compound annual rate of 27% to around 3.15 billion by 2030.
Meanwhile, the global Wi-Fi market, valued at approximately $22 billion in 2024, is forecast to expand at an annual rate exceeding 12%, reaching between $35 billion and $45 billion by 2030.
Global digital platforms are increasing their investments in Türkiye, supported not only by the country's growing market but also by pressure from professional industry organizations and regulatory authorities.
As a result, companies generating millions of dollars in revenue from Türkiye are taking their local investment commitments more seriously. At the same time, any practices that undermine fair competition will continue to require close regulatory oversight.
Rising consumer demand and an improving investment climate have significantly strengthened Türkiye's appeal for global technology companies. Yet investment strategies differ widely.
While some firms are committing billions of dollars to cloud infrastructure and establishing deep local operations, others continue to maintain only the minimum presence required by law.
Tax policies, data localization requirements and regulatory compliance are becoming increasingly important factors shaping investment decisions.
Spotify has now announced the official opening of its Istanbul office, marking a new chapter in its presence within Türkiye's rapidly growing music ecosystem.
The decision is underpinned by striking market data.
According to Spotify, more than 90% of songs featured in Türkiye's Top 50 chart are by domestic artists. Listening to Turkish artists outside the country has increased 70-fold over the past 11 years, while in April alone, 92.5 million unique users outside Türkiye added at least one Turkish artist to their playlists.
Akshat Harbola, Spotify's general manager for the Middle East, North Africa and Türkiye (MENAT+), said Türkiye is one of the world's most dynamic music markets both culturally and commercially, adding that the new Istanbul office reflects the company's long-term commitment to the country.
Industry representatives, however, acknowledge that the investment cannot be explained solely by the strength of Türkiye's music market.
After Türkiye's Competition Authority (RK) launched a formal investigation into Spotify in early July last year over allegations related to playlist practices and pricing policies, the issue gained greater regulatory attention.
Professional Association of Music Copyright Holders of Türkiye (MESAM) Chair Recep Ergül called for resolving concerns surrounding pricing policies and said the organization wanted to view Spotify as a long-term solution partner.
While the industry welcomes the opening of a local office as a positive first step, rights holders continue to argue that royalty payments per stream should be brought closer to international standards and that a more transparent royalty distribution system should be established.
Türkiye has steadily strengthened its legal framework governing global digital platforms over recent years.
Legislation that entered into force in 2020 introduced a requirement for major social media companies to establish local offices and appoint legal representatives in Türkiye.
The objective was to improve corporate accountability while ensuring compliance with domestic legal obligations and tax requirements.
The Digital Services Tax, introduced in 2019 and implemented in 2020, was designed to tax large technology companies that generate significant revenues in Türkiye despite having limited or no physical presence in the country.
Global technology companies, including Google, Meta, Amazon, Apple, Netflix, Spotify, TikTok and X, are among those subject to the tax.
