Silver

Though silver has been used to help treat wounds for years, new research shows that when added to antibiotics, it can be 10-1,000 times more effective than using the antibiotic alone. Researchers hope that this could be used to help attack the ever-growing list of antibiotic-resistant bacteria. Silver helps compromise the membrane of bacteria, allowing the medication to be more effective.

The antimicrobial properties of silver have been known for thousands of years, but it was not clear how the metal wreaked havoc on pathogenic invaders. Now, researchers have explained the cellular processes by which the precious metal weakens bacteria and makes them more susceptible to antibiotics, according to a study published on June 19 in Science translational magazine. The findings suggest that silver could be used to enhance the effectiveness of antibiotics against drug-resistant bacteria.

A team lead by Jim Collins, a biomedical engineer at Boston University, showed that dissolved silver ions interfere with several cellular processes in bacteria, including disulfide-bond formation, iron homeostasis, and metabolism. These changes not only make the cell membrane more permeable, but also lead to increased production of reactive oxygen species, which can induce cell death via DNA damage.