Geni Wren Food-borne diseases might soon have another warrior to
contend with, thanks to a new molecule discovered by chemists at
the University of Illinois. The new antibiotic, an analog of the
widely used food preservative nisin, also has potential to be a
boon to the dairy industry as a treatment for bovine mastitis.
The antibiotic nisin occurs naturally in milk, a product of
bacteria resident in the cow’s udder. It helps keep milk from
spoiling and kills a broad spectrum of bacteria that cause food-
borne illness, most notably listeria and clostridium. It was
approved as a food additive in 1969, and since then has become
prevalent in the food industry in more than 50 countries. “It’s
good to know that there are natural products added to our food
that protect us from diseases,” said lead researcher Wilfred van
der Donk, a chemistry professor at the University of Illinois.
“Many people probably don’t even realize that, or think it’s
some kind of a non-natural chemical. Last summer we had the
listeria outbrea