Ryan White / Chemistry & Biochemistry / Faculty Mentor: Sherri McFarland
Drug–resistant bacteria and viruses are one of the most dangerous developments in recent medical history. Antibiotics have saved over 3,000,000 lives in the past 15 years, but as pathogens evolve they become immune to many of our most effective medicines – threatening the lives of millions around the globe. Our project aims to fight back, providing effective and localized treatment of infections and illness, without the possibility of developing bacterial resistance due to our unique mechanism of action. We believe our light-based treatment, which utilizes natural products to produce reactive oxygen species, will eliminate bacteria with high potency. We discovered that Japanese knotweed and rhubarb root extracts are extremely promising, out of the panel of plants we have investigated so far. Our study has already produced a pipeline of natural product photosensitizers and given us a starting point to develop stronger and more effective medicines against antibiotic-resistant bacteria. Potential treatments for diabetic patients, gum disease, and many others are being considered. The bacteria found in diabetic foot ulcers in particular have shown an exceptional weakness to our light-based treatment.
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