Thursday, February 4, 2016

Protein in Breast Milk may be a solution for antibiotic resistance

Contributed by: Siddarth David & Dr. Tamhankar

A team from the National Physical Laboratory in the UK has discovered that a protein found the breast milk can be used for treating multi-drug resistance bacteria. Lactoferrin with its Y-shaped structure if induced to form capsules can break the cell membrane of resistant micro organisms.

Not only did these capsules successfully bind to bacteria, they were also able to puncture membranes with a great deal of precision. The findings published describe that the lactoferrin capsules act like viruses perforating the cell wall of the bacteria based on their surface proteins. These psuedo-virus capusles can also be used in treating cancers, muscular dystrophy and cystic fibrosis.


Though it will be sometime before they are going to made available, this research shows that it is important to look at alternative methods of treating bacterial infections apart from antibiotics. The over reliance on antibiotics has contributed to it unregulated use and led to antibiotic resistance.