Ninjas Vs. Superbugs: IBM Develops Polymers To Fight MRSA, Fungal Infections
By Sara Jerome,
@sarmje
IBM may have found a surprising new weapon in the fight against antibiotic-resistant bacteria and… foot fungus?
That's according to Wired, which cited a study published last week in the journal Nature showing a new technology that can be used to fight fungal infections.
The research is the mark of teamwork between medical researchers and IBM scientists, Wired said. The result is something IBM is calling "ninja polymers."
Ninja polymers are a fungus-fighting agent engineered so that a chemical "attaches itself to the fungus’s cell wall and essentially burst its membranes. In tests, the scientists found that their antifungal chemicals killed off the fungus and eased up on fungal eye infections in lab mice," Wired said.
IBM uses plastic bottles as a key part of the process. The result is "a method for recycling bottles — specifically those made with polyethylene terephthalate — to defeat drug-resistant fungal infections as well as bacterial infections," the Register reported.
IBM’s semiconductor polymers, which have been made increasingly precise over the years, form the foundation for the technology.
Bob Allen, a senior manager with IBM Research, told Wired that if chip-making "is not absolutely perfect, it’s going to fail. Likewise, when you’re dealing with medicine you need absolutely perfect assemblies.”
IBM scientists had been "building special polymers that they inject into silicon microprocessors as a way of pushing lithographically etched lines closer together. That lets IBM fit more transistors into its chips," Wired said.
But IBM chemist Jim Hedrick had his research move in a new direction after he lectured at an Australian polymer conference.
"After his talk, Hedrick took a question from Yi Yan Yang, a professor with Singapore’s Institute of Bioengineering and Nanotechnology," Wired reported.
Yang stood up and said: "You’re wasting your time with this electronics stuff. You should be working with me," according to the report.
A partnership was born. IBM released some of the initial findings last year.
That research was notable because it could help fight bacteria, such as stubborn – and sometimes deadly — methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA).
"Fortunately, a team of scientists at IBM Research - Almaden have drawn upon years of expertise in semiconductor technology and material discovery to crack the code for safely destroying the bacteria," IBM announced.
Image credit: IBM