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OMG : World of Science is Freaking out over 25-year-old's answer to Antibiotic Resistance

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Antibiotic-resistant bacteria already kill around 700,000 people each year, but a recent study suggests that number could rise to around 10 million by 2050.

youtube.com/watch?v=ixbs4RH...

In addition to common hospital superbug, methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA), scientists are now also concerned that gonorrhoea is about to become resistant to all remaining drugs.

But Shu Lam, a 25-year-old PhD student at the University of Melbourne in Australia, has developed a star-shaped polymer that can kill six different superbug strains without antibiotics, simply by ripping apart their cell walls.

"We’ve discovered that [the polymers] actually target the bacteria and kill it in multiple ways," Lam told Nicola Smith from The Telegraph. "One method is by physically disrupting or breaking apart the cell wall of the bacteria. This creates a lot of stress on the bacteria and causes it to start killing itself."

The research has been published in Nature Microbiology, and according to Smith, it's already being hailed by scientists in the field as "a breakthrough that could change the face of modern medicine".

Read more Here.

sciencealert.com/the-scienc...

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5 Replies
Tryfan profile image
Tryfan

My biggest fear is that the pharmaceutical industry will be freaking out. My worry, they will make her an offer she can't refuse, then bury it for decades, claiming more research needs to be carried out before it can possibly be released. Meanwhile protecting it from further research by patents. Best wishes, and good luck, be strong and carry on.

undine profile image
undine

wow see what happens when you educate women - wonderful things - ha,ha sorry could not resist - thank you for very interesting post xxx

SheilaG profile image
SheilaG

I totally agree with Tryfan. Being sick is BIG money. It's like finding cures for chronic diseases like diabetes. Just the companies that make assessory items for diabetes like bags, insulin pumps, meters and test strips would be SOL. Cures are never in Big Pharma's best interest.

Bwebb profile image
Bwebb

Wow, This is great news. MRSA is very bad and everywhere in the us.

casper99 profile image
casper99

That looks so promising, thanks Daz xx

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