Global health breakthrough at SCU’s Coffs campus Coffs Coast Coffs Coast - popup ad Coffs Coast News by News Of The Area - Modern Media - January 29, 2025 Lead researcher Kate Summer has made a major medical breakthrough. Photo: SCU HAVE you noticed that each time you get a prescription for antibiotics, it tends to be different? This is because there is a growing list of drug-resistant bacteria, which is a major global health issue. Advertise with News of The Area today. It’s worth it for your business. Message us. Phone us – (02) 4981 8882. Email us – media@newsofthearea.com.au The World Health Organisation says that as well as resisting drugs themselves, many bacteria also have the ability to spread resistance to other bacteria. However, breakthrough research at Southern Cross University (SCU) has opened up possibilities for alleviating this problem. In findings published last week in the peer-reviewed scientific journal PLOS One, researchers from the Southern Cross University found oysters helped kill drug-resistant bacteria that cause common respiratory infections. The results came from the PhD project of researcher Kate Summer, and involved testing Sydney rock oyster blood proteins in cell culture. Oysters don’t have lungs, so they don’t need resistance to colds. However, they have large quantities of seawater containing an enormous range of pathogens passing through them each day, so they have developed a resistance to a wide range of bacteria. Marine biologist and chemist Professor Kirsten Benkendorff, who co-authored the report, said the research found that oyster blood proteins specifically kill streptococcus bacteria, which are responsible for colds. The blood can kill streptococcus in fluids and biofilms (when bacteria settle on to a surface and congregate). This latter property is important because, when bacteria are in a biofilm, many existing antibiotics are ineffective. As well as directly killing streptococcus when used in combination with existing antibiotics, the blood can kill it at lower doses and kill a range of other bacteria as well. For example, it was effective in killing bacteria in a sample of lung infection from a patient with cystic fibrosis. Professor Benkendorff said that the research still has some way to go, but opens up possibilities for helping to mitigate a growing global health crisis. “This research has exciting potential for treating drug-resistance bacteria and reducing the doses needed to combat diseases,” she said. By Andrew VIVIAN
