Scientists from George Mason University recently isolated a substance in the blood of a Komodo dragon that appeared to have powerful germ-killing abilities.
Inspired by the discovery, they created a similar chemical in the lab and dubbed it DRGN-1.
Tests on mice that were given skin wounds infected with two types of bacteria showed that DRGN-1 had three valuable properties: It punched holes in the outer membranes of both gram-negative and gram-positive bacteria, it dissolved the biofilms that glue bacteria together, and it sped skin healing.
The race to find new antibiotics has taken on great urgency as more and more bacteria develop resistance to existing drugs. In February, the World Health Organization ranked the most dangerous superbugs, calling for new tools against them.
