Synthetic ’virus’ to kill bacteria

A synthetic 'virus' that kills bacteria on first contact has been developed by UCL and National Physical Laboratory researchers (NPL). The study, published , shows how newly designed proteins can be used to build tiny hollow shells that emulate the outer structures of naturally occurring viruses. The synthetic virus 'drones' recognise bacterial cells before targeting and destroying their most vulnerable part - their membrane. "We used high-resolution and real-time imaging to see the impact of the synthetic viruses on bacterial model membranes and found that they are extremely destructive," explained co-author and UCL PhD student Hasan Alkassem (NPL, UCL London Centre for Nanotechnology and UCL Biochemical Engineering). "Seconds after landing on the surface, the synthetic viruses disassemble and form rapidly expanding holes in the membrane, causing it to leak. Experiments on intact bacteria then showed that this caused the bacteria to die." The discovery is important as it demonstrates a possible new approach to tackling the ever-growing issue of antibiotic resistance, by opening new options for the treatment of infectious diseases. More than 700,000 people across the world die from drug resistant infections every year and antibiotic discovery has fallen well behind its historical rate, with traditional discovery methods being exhausted.