Saccharin, the artificial sweetener used in diet foods like yogurts and sugar-free drinks, can kill multidrug-resistant bacteria—including one of the world’s most dangerous pathogens.

In 2019, antimicrobial resistance (AMR) killed 1.27 million people globally, with resistant infections contributing to nearly 5 million deaths.

Drug-resistant bacteria such as Acinetobacter baumannii, which causes life-threatening infections in people with a weakened immune system, and Pseudomonas aeruginosa, linked to chronic lung infections and sepsis, are on the World Health Organization’s list of top-priority pathogens.

“In exciting work led by our team, we’ve identified a novel antimicrobial—saccharin,” Prof McCarthy said. “Saccharin breaks the walls of bacterial pathogens, causing them to distort and eventually burst, killing the bacteria. Crucially, this damage lets antibiotics slip inside, overwhelming their resistance systems.”

Saccharin has been part of the human diet for longer than 100 years. While it has been extensively tested for safety in people, little was known about its effect on bacteria—until now with a study appearing in EMBO Molecular Medicine.

The international team found that saccharin both stops bacterial growth and disrupts DNA replication and stops the bacteria from forming biofilms—sticky, protective layers that help them survive antibiotics.

They also created a saccharin-loaded hydrogel wound dressing that, in tests, outperformed market-leading silver-based antimicrobial dressings currently used in hospitals.

“This is very exciting,” Prof McCarthy added. “Normally it takes billions of dollars and decades to develop a new antibiotic. But here we have a compound that’s already widely used, and it not only kills drug-resistant bacteria but also makes existing antibiotics more effective.

“Artificial sweeteners are found in many diet and sugar-free foods. We discovered that the same sweeteners you have with your coffee or in a ‘sugar-free’ drink could make some of the world’s most dangerous bacteria easier to treat.”

The World Health Organization has warned that the world is heading toward a “post-antibiotic era,” where common everyday infections could once again become deadly. Overuse of antibiotics in medicine and agriculture has accelerated resistance, and new antibiotics have been slow to arrive.

“This has created a dangerous situation,” said Prof McCarthy. “We urgently need new drugs to treat resistant infections—and saccharin could represent a new therapeutic approach with exciting promise.”

More information: Rubén de Dios et al, Saccharin disrupts bacterial cell envelope stability and interferes with DNA replication dynamics, EMBO Molecular Medicine (2025). DOI: 10.1038/s44321-025-00219-1

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Nuclear fusion saw another major breakthrough… a ‘huge step’ in the quest for clean energy.

A woman was cured of HIV through a breakthrough stem cell treatment.

MIT engineers created an ‘impossible’ new material… stronger than steel but as light as plastic.

An international team of scientists used supercomputers to unlock a ‘giant leap’ in the fight against antibiotic resistance.

A new ‘game-changing’ carbon capture technology could deliver a step change in our ability to remove dioxide from the air.

Researchers set a new Guinness World Record for fastest-ever DNA sequencing technique… using it to sequence a human genome in just 5 hours and 2 minutes.

A new breakthrough in spinal cord implant ‘could potentially allow paralysed people to walk again’.

A ground-breaking new technology regrew a frog’s lost leg… and it might work on humans too.

Surgeons completed the first-ever heart transplant with a genetically-modified animal heart… saving the life of a 57-year-old and taking a big step towards helping solve the global donor organ shortage.

Biodegradable surgical tape has been invented… making some intestinal fixes as easy as ‘duct tape around leaky pipes’.

James Webb, the awe-inspiring $10 billion space telescope 25 years in the making, took its first images… a huge scientific milestone.

An autonomous drone carrying a defibrillator saved the life of a 71-year-old having a heart attack… a first in medical history.

Researchers in Sweden found a promising way to use solar power to convert carbon dioxide into fuel… using ultra-fast laser spectroscopy.

Just a few of many incredible achievements in the first 50 days of the year.

The world is far from perfect, but we shouldn’t forget that about 90% of all scientists that ever lived are alive today. Never before have we had so many people whose sole purpose of work is to better understand how the world works.

2022 is shaping up to be a remarkable year in science and technology.

#nuclear #fusion #breakthrough #clean #energy #hiv #cure #stem #cell #mit #antibiotic #resistance #scientist #sweden #fuel #technology #dna #humans #science #organ

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I love this quote and it now serves to guide me to embrace EVERY circumstance I find myself in. If I can’t embrace it (some challenges are harder to embrace than others) then I do my very best to merely accept it, not to resist it.

And that’s likely the miraculous key to the quote… that when you live this quote, you cease being in so much resistance to your life.

My whole life is better because of this practice.

I have a much friendlier relationship to life. I don’t view things as “happening TO me.” I view things as happening FOR me.

And for me in a very specific way. Happening to help me drop my inner resistance to what is, and come back into alignment with the present moment.

Einstein said the important question was, “Is it a friendly or unfriendly universe?”

This quote has helped me become clear that it is a friendly universe. That my whole life gets better (quiet magically I’d say) when I am friendlier with the present moment.

And now you know the only quote that is framed on my wall. The other day I was watching Oprah interview Eckhart Tolle and she said, “I love your quote… “Life will give you whatever experience is most helpful for the evolution of your consciousness. How do you know this is the experience that you’re having? Because you’re having it.”

I hope you love it as well.

May it serve you into a friendlier relationship with your life.

Sincerely,
Patrick

SPEAKERS, SEEKERS, AND ENTREPRENEURS

I’m going to be writing much more in the next year. 2017 was an amazing year in my life and it gave me so much I want to share with others. Speaking tips. Bitcoin tips. Presence Practice Tips. Passion Tips. And tips for living better than you ever have.

1. I’ll be sharing secrets to being an amazing speaker and getting paid for it. (I got my biggest speaking paychecks of my career this year, and I love the craft more than ever before). If you desire to be a speaker, I can give you a ton of tips to accelerate you into this amazing profession.

2. I also share a ton of tips on the most important and beneficial thing I’ve ever learned or done, which is my “presence practice.” I’m 4 years deep into it now being the most important thing I do every single day. And it has completely TOTALLY changed my life. – And in 2018, I’ll be making a full length feature film about it, and would love to share what I learn from traveling the world to interview “Awakened people.”

3. And of course, I’ll share everything I know about living passionate and purposeful.

I’m 51 now, and I’ve feel like I have more to share than ever before in my life. I’m grateful for life and I want to help as many people as I can be as grateful for their life as I am for mine.

But I don’t want to be emailing ANYONE who doesn’t open my emails. That just costs me money for no good reason.

So love me? Yes? Then stop by and discover my blog: https://patrickcombs.com/blog/. Or drop me an email.

Don’t love me? Please unsubscribe right now. The link is below in this email. It only takes one click. No hard feelings. Bon voyage. Parting is such sweet sorrow.

You’re the best!

Patrick Combs
https://patrickcombs.com
San Diego

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