VIRUSES lying dormant in the DNA of the superbug MRSA could be its nemesis. Microbiologists are extracting the viral material and altering it to create viruses that wipe out the bugs. The idea is to use these viruses, which infect only bacteria, for disinfecting surfaces in hospitals.
A team led by Nicholas Mann at the University of Warwick, UK, hunted in sewage and soil for naturally occurring bacteriophages that are lethal to the superbug methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus, but found only two. Then they realised that the genomes of each MRSA strain already contained DNA coding for bacteriophages, albeit non-lethal ones. By modifying these, the team developed 10 novel bacteriophages, each lethal to a different strain of MRSA. Novolytics, a company set up by the team to commercialise the agents, is poised to develop wound dressings that contain the phage. 鈥淚n a dressing or spray, we鈥檇 use a cocktail of phage to hit as many strains of MRSA as possible,鈥� Mann says.
In the UK alone, MRSA infects thousands of patients each year, killing hundreds and contributing to the deaths of many more. In some hospitals in the UK, the risk of being infected by MRSA is eight times higher than in others. The government has launched an action plan to improve hygiene through simple measures such as ensuring staff wash their hands between treating patients.
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