The age of antibiotics may be coming to an end.
Antibiotic resistant bacteria are on the rise. The European CDC has reported that our "last resort" antibiotics are beginning to fail.
Ozone should be used in every surgical suite and incorporated into surgical procedures to reduce the risk of infection.
Instead of developing a new antibiotic that will eventually be useless as bacteria evolves, these scientists turned to technologies that the bugs will not be able to develop a resistance to such as material surfaces and lighting.
The researchers at the University of Cincinnati harnessed blue and red light to activate nanoparticles, known as photosensitizers, which react to the light by producing a toxic form of oxygen.
"Instead of resorting to antibiotics, which no longer work against some bacteria like MRSA, we use photosensitizers, mostly dye molecules, that become excited when illuminated with light," says Peng Zhang, lead researcher on the study. "Then, the photosensitizers convert oxygen into reactive oxygen species that attack the bacteria." (Irving, 2018)