Irish bioinformatics company, Nuritas, has announced that it has discovered an MRSA killing peptide. The peptide, which is derived from a food by-product, is anticipated to provide a natural, healthy innovation in the fight against antibiotic resistant infections in both humans and animals.
Nuritas' ground-breaking biotechnology is capable of quickly and cost-effectively harvesting ingredients which then may be developed and supplied to humans and animal producers for many different applications from topical applications to effective cleaning biocides.
Dr. Nora Khaldi, CEO of Nuritas, states "Our aim is to make ingredients that are more accessible, natural and meeting serious societal health needs."
Unlike existing MRSA killing products, Nuritas has found a way to rapidly and effectively extract and activate safe and healthy antimicrobial molecules in food that are often overlooked. This is a world first in that most molecules are usually derived from non-sustainable sources that have unknown side effects on human health and cost millions and years to develop.
Dr. Marta Martins, Biotechnology Research Fellow at University College Dublin said that "The increase of antibiotic resistance in bacteria of clinical relevance is a major issue for Public Health and there is the immediate need for alternative solutions". Nuritas' announcement today of the discovery of an effective and natural peptide to combat MRSA comes at a crucial point in the MRSA battle it seems.
Staphylococcus aureus is a bacterium commonly found in the nose and/or skin of healthy persons and animals. Strains of this bacterium that are resistant to beta-lactam antibiotics are called Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA). If this bacterium penetrates the skin and enters the blood stream it can cause life-threatening infections due to its resistance to many of the currently used antibiotics.
The inappropriate use of antibiotics in human treatments and animal production is contributing to antibiotic resistance, allowing bacterium such as Staphylococcus aureus to continue to evolve. Developing treatments to keep up with the evolution of the bacterium are costly and time-consuming. Severe side effects are also associated with some of the second or last-line antibiotic treatments. Nuritas' ingredients are cost-effectively and quickly mined from food sources eliminating the possible severe side effects associated with current therapies and uses.
Overall, Nuritas' discovery has the potential to provide innovative treatment of the costly and dangerous MRSA causing-infections by providing affordable, healthy, sustainable anti-microbials to ensure the healthy, long life of humans and animals.