25-year-old develops new method to fight drug-resistant bacteria

A few days ago, 193 members of the UN signed a declaration on combating antibiotic-resistant bacteria. A new method developed by a 25-year-old student at the University of Melbourne may be helpful in the fight against superbugs.

The UN has called the fight against drug-resistant bacteria the greatest challenge of allóof modern medicine. Bacteria, through inappropriate use of antibioticóin, mutate and become immune to them. The key in this battle may turn out to be a new method developed by Shu Lam – a Malaysian student studying in Australia. She has presented a completely new approach to the problem.

The new method has so far only been tested on mice, but it has very high potential. It’s a star-shaped polymer thatóry is capable of annihilating six róThe strainóin a superbug. The 25-year-old’s method has already been hailed by researchers as a breakthrough in antibiotic resistanceómodern medicine.

In theóThe antibiotic-resistantóin, whichóre „poisoning” the disease-causing bacterium, the polymers directly attack the bacterium by rupturing its cell membraneórkowa. The method does not affect healthy cellsóThe risk of hypothermia, which occurs when antibiotics are usedów. During observation, the disease-causing bacteria were not reported to have developed resistance to the new.

Although the results of the young student’s study are promising, the method is far from reaching the market. It still takes dozens of tests and analyses to make Lam’s inventionóThe head start to be used.