Recently, a team of Australian scientists discovered something lurking inside “superbugs” that could both help save the planet, and make us all very, very sick. You win some, you lose some. “Superbugs” are bacteria that can fight off antiseptics and antibiotics. No one knows quite how they turn from regular bacteria into superbugs. But the same way they fight the things that should kill them, could help make a whole new “green” generation of plastics.
Eco-friendly Ooshies, anyone. Back in 2013, Professor Ian Paulsen from Macquarie University and his team discovered a bacteria that could resist a powerful, hospital-grade antiseptic the World Health Organisation called “essential medicine”. This was strong stuff. The bacteria could endure the antiseptic because of a tiny protein that sits its surface, pumping out any that gets inside. That particular protein has been around for yonks —…
