Shu Lam has developed synthetic peptides that kill superbugs.

Shu Lam, a Chinese-American doctor at the University of Melbourne, has developed a star protein that can tear the cell walls of superbugs - and kill them - in a new step in the post-antibiotic world, the Australian Daily News reported.
Shu Lam, 24, published her findings wednesday in the journal Nature Microbiology.
's resistance to antibiotics is evolving into a threat that could kill millions of people each year.
the U.S. Food and Drug Administration has banned the addition of antibacterial agents to household soaps and lotions, fearing they could increase resistance to certain bacteria.
and her team from the University of Melbourne's School of Engineering designed a star-shaped polymer peptide , a large complex chain of proteins.
"It kills bacteria in many ways," Ms. Lin said.
" Ms Lin told Fairfax Media: "Our project is to find better alternatives to antibiotics.
" Ms. Lin and her team named the polymer SNAPPs: Structural Nano-Engineered Antimicrobial Peptide Polymers.
is a short chain of amino acids.
scientists have previously experimented with antimicrobial peptides, but have found that when they kill bacteria, they themselves are highly toxic to humans.
's protein chain is star-shaped, with 16 or 32 arms about 10 nanometers in diameter, much larger than other antimicrobial peptides, and therefore does not appear to affect healthy cells around bacteria.
and her team tested six in vitro superbugs (i.e., in vitro) and found that star peptide polymers can kill bacteria without damaging red blood cells in the in vitro environment.
Cyrille Boyer, of the University of New South Wales, said it was a very promising study, but warned that clinical applications were still a long way off.
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