Scientists at the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Agricultural
Research Service (ARS) have developed a new procedure to create
antimicrobials that can be used as alternatives to antibiotics
to kill pathogens. Molecular biologist David Donovan at the ARS
Beltsville Agricultural Research Center (BARC) in Beltsville,
MD, developed the patented technology for the new form of
antimicrobials that target disease-causing pathogens. Donovan
works in the center’s Animal Biosciences and Biotechnology
Laboratory. Viruses that infect bacteria are called
bacteriophages and produce enzymes that can be used to kill
pathogens. These novel enzymes have proven effective in killing
disease organisms such as streptococci and methicillin-resistant
Staphylococcus aureus or MRSA. Donovan collaborated with
industry, university and federal scientists to demonstrate that
these particular enzymes have molecular domains that can be
isolated and will act independently of their protein
surroundings. The bacteriophages kill bacteria by eat