Garlic constituent blocks biofilm formation, could benefit CF patients and others
Tuesday, May 22, 2012 - 06:30
in Health & Medicine
E Pluribus Unum, the motto of the United States, could just as well apply to biofilm-forming bacteria. Bacterial biofilms are far more resistant than individual bacteria to the armories of antibiotics we have devised to combat them. Now Tim Holm Jakobsen and Michael Givskov of the University of Copenhagen, and their many collaborators have pinpointed a constituent of garlic that attacks a key step in the development of biofilms, in an effort they hope may offer help in particular for patients with cystic fibrosis. The research is published in the May 2012 issue of Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy.