Article: Breast milk protein could be used in fight against antibiotic resistance
National Physical Laboratory and UCL study reveals that lactoferrin kills bacteria, fungi and viruses
Scientists re-engineered the fragment into a virus-like capsule that can target bacteria without affecting human cells. Photograph: Stefan Wermuth/Reuters
Press Association
Saturday 23 January 2016 09.39 GMTLast modified on Saturday 23 January 201618.05 GMT
An antibiotic developed from human breast milk could combat certain drug-resistant bacteria, British scientists have found.
Tackling antibiotic-resistant bacteria, known as superbugs, is a priority for the government. A panel set up by David Cameron forecast that they would cost 10 million lives and £700bn a year worldwide by 2050 if the problem went unchecked.
The breakthrough, by the National Physical Laboratory (NPL) and University College London, found that the minuscule fragment, less than a nanometre in width, is responsible for giving the protein its anti-microbial properties.
This is what makes breast milk so important in protecting infants from disease in their first months of life. The protein, called lactoferrin, effectively kills bacteria, fungi and even viruses on contact.
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Heard about this recently and found it really interesting, also rather encouraging given what a huge issue antibacterial resistance is. The method they used to develop a useable drug from it is really cool as well. It wasn't nearly so simple as merely synthesizing the stuff; the researchers actually developed a special virus-like capsule to contain and deliver it, which is really impressive to be honest. They say the method should have applicability for other cures as well, which is awesome. The protein doesn't just kill bacteria, either, it kicks the crap out of fungi and even viruses!
The fact that a mother's milk is so potently protective is also just generally heartwarming.
This news also reminds me of a good article I read a while ago about a pair of biologists who quit the prestigious world of Big Research and spent something like twenty years teaching at a community college/high school (can't remember which) living on next-to-no-money in this middle-of-nowhere town. The pair spent all of their spare time studying the extremophile bacteria that had evolved to live in this one large pond on the outskirts of the town, where a ton of toxic waste had been dumped in the fifties. It turned out that, who'd have guessed, these extremophile bacteria (many of them unique to this one pond) were using a ton of cool tricks to survive that had a wide array of pharmaceutical applications.
Studying the solutions nature has come up with to solve problems we also face may be a much-neglected avenue of research, at least by the private sector. Hopefully that will begin to change in the future.
