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Purdue Research Shows Promising Results That Could Help Fight Dangerous Bacteria

By Lindsey Wright

Posted November 26, 2018

mrsa-led.jpg

It will likely be quite some time before the process is tested on humans. (John Underwood, Courtesy Purdue Research Foundation)

Purdue University researchers hope their work could result in a new way to fight methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus, or MRSA. It's a common but dangerous bacterial infection. But even if the researchers are successful, it’s likely years away from human use.

Researchers learned that dangerous types of bacteria really like a molecule called heme.

Professor of Chemistry Alexander Wei is leading the research team. He says heme is the same molecule that transports oxygen in our blood. 

"We studied heme, we presented heme to bacteria to see if they would grab it, and sure enough many bacteria are very good at acquiring this molecule," Wei says. 

According to the World Health Organization, MRSA poses an enormous threat to human health. 

The researchers found it latches on to heme rather quickly. So they tried replacing the iron atom inside heme with Gallium. That created a photosensitizer called Ga-PpIx, which is somewhat toxic to bacteria.

And by using a process that involves shining a light on it, the MRSA is knocked out.  

Wei says antibiotic resistance is a growing concern, especially when it comes to bacteria like MRSA. So the process, known as photodynamic therapy, could be a promising alternative.  

"Ten years from now, [if] everything’s successful – we would have an over the counter cream that you could apply to your skin when you have this sort of infection, or a doctor could apply it, and then you just shine up a light bulb or even a flash light with the right wave length," Wei says. 

It could take several years before the process is clinically tested on humans.

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