Pseudomonas aeruginosa cells that burst in the presence Artilysines



Bacteria are becoming increasingly resistant to antibiotics, making harmless infections life threatening. In search for an alternative to antibiotics, KU Leuven researchers of the Laboratory for Gene Technology (Professor Rob Lavigne, Dr. Yves Briers) have developed a designer enzyme (called Artilysine®) that can defeat important super bacteria such as Pseudomonas aeruginosa.

Compared to antibiotics, Artilysines have the advantage that they only attack germs and leave the natural bacterial flora untouched. In addition, Artylisines can now be developed for any bacteria.

In order to further develop the Artilysines the technology was licensed to the German company Lysando AG, which will bring a wound spray to market in 2015. Watch a German documentary (“Alles Wissen”) about Artilysines. The scientific background of the technology can be found in two recent publications in Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy (AAC) and mBIO.