REAL LIFE NEWS: A NEW (OLD) WAY TO KILL BACTERIA
by Hazed
As more and more bacteria become resistant to antibiotics, it’s time to look for alternative ways to kill off the nasty bugs that make us ill. One way might be to look to the past.
There’s a field of research into organisms called phages, that was abandoned once antibiotics became so effective, but now scientists are going back to take another look – and they are finding some intriguing possibilities, so much so that commercial companies are getting involved.
Phages were discovered in 1915 and are thought to be the most abundant life form in the universe. They can be cultivated to produce hydrocarbons, but the new interest is in their ability to destroy superbugs such as Clostridium difficile, which infects and kills people in hospitals – the elderly are particularly susceptible.
A US company, AmpliPhi, has put money into research at Leicester University in the UK to develop treatments based on phages. If their work succeeds it could be a huge breakthrough in dealing with the troublesome superbugs – and could be very lucrative, too!
Source: http://www.theregister.co.uk/2013/10/21/bacteriophage_leicester_ampliphi/
