Maggots Under Microscope For Superbug-Killing Secretions, Swansea University Study
Maggots could help tackle the looming crisis of antibacterial resistance, according to researchers from Swansea University, who found that certain molecules in the secretions of green bottle fly maggots are highly effective at killing some species of bacteria.
The wound cleaning ability exhibited by these insects has a long history in medicine with battlefield surgeons in particular using them to help clean up infected and dead flesh. But it's the minute secretions that these maggots leave behind that could hold the key for viable new medicines to help combat so-called superbugs like methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA).
"We knew, anecdotally and from past studies, that maggots were working to kill bacterial infections in wounds," explained Dr Yamni Nigam, lead researcher of the Swansea Maggot Research group.
The wound cleaning ability exhibited by these insects has a long history in medicine with battlefield surgeons in particular using them to help clean up infected and dead flesh. But it's the minute secretions that these maggots leave behind that could hold the key for viable new medicines to help combat so-called superbugs like methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA).
"We knew, anecdotally and from past studies, that maggots were working to kill bacterial infections in wounds," explained Dr Yamni Nigam, lead researcher of the Swansea Maggot Research group.