By Chris Stone
A team of scientists has
developed a new low-cost material that could help tackle one of the world’s
fastest-growing health dangers — antimicrobial resistance.
Researchers led by Flinders
University, together with scientists from the UK, say the newly created
sulfur-based material has shown strong ability to destroy harmful bacteria and
fungi without damaging human or plant cells.
Experts believe the discovery
could one day help doctors treat difficult infections while also protecting
crops from dangerous diseases.
Antimicrobial resistance
happens when bacteria, viruses and fungi stop responding properly to medicines.
Health experts around the world have warned that the problem is becoming more
serious each year, making some infections much harder to treat.
The World Health Organization
has already described antimicrobial resistance as one of the biggest health
threats facing the modern world.
The newly developed material is
a sulfur-rich polymer designed to avoid many of the problems linked with older
sulfur-based treatments.
For years, sulfur compounds
have been known to kill germs, but many had strong unpleasant smells and were
difficult to use because they did not dissolve well.
Professor Justin Chalker said
the new material successfully overcomes those weaknesses while remaining highly
effective against several dangerous pathogens.
According to him, the material
has shown strong results against both fungal and bacterial infections and could
become useful in medicine as well as farming.
Lead researcher Dr Jasmine
Pople explained that fungal infections are becoming a growing concern in
hospitals and agriculture, increasing the need for cheaper and safer
treatments.
She said the discovery may
eventually lead to affordable medicines and large-scale agricultural products
that can protect crops from disease.
The antimicrobial ability of
the material was first noticed during research work carried out at the University
of Liverpool in 2024.
Since then, scientists have
tested the material against several harmful pathogens with support from
microbiologists and virologists.
Researchers say the project is
also part of wider efforts to turn excess sulfur into useful products. Other
recent sulfur-based inventions from the same research group include recyclable
plastics, thermal imaging camera lenses and technology that helps recover gold
from electronic waste.
Scientists now hope the latest
breakthrough could become another important weapon in the global fight against
drug-resistant infections.
Post a Comment