Blue light could be the 'next frontier' in superbug fight

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2020-06-15 15:49:40

"Our therapy is novel because instead of using a drug-based approach, it takes physical aim at the structure of the cell itself," says Ji-Xin Cheng. (Credit: Boston U.)

Scientists are locked in a high-stakes race against bacterial evolution, racing against adversaries that can spawn a new generation in less time than it takes to wash a load of laundry.

New strains of antibiotic-resistant pathogens emerge faster than we can develop drugs to fight them, and experts warn that there may come a day when modern medicine as we know it is endangered by superbugs we can’t kill.

The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports that 2.8 million antibiotic-resistant infections occur in the United States each year, resulting in 35,000 deaths.

Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus, or MRSA, causes more than half of these fatalities. The strain of bacteria can cause severe skin and soft tissue infections, sepsis, and pneumonia. Over the years, MRSA has developed multi-drug resistance to many conventional antibiotics, making it difficult to treat and cure.