Article content

When it comes to life-threatening bacteria, antibiotics aren’t always the answer. In some cases, so-called “superbugs” have developed resistance to the drugs. In other cases, antibiotics just don’t work very well.

Even when they’re not caused by superbugs, the pus-filled lesions known as abscesses don’t respond well to antibiotics. The existing treatments aren’t exactly ideal, but UBC microbiologist Bob Hancock believes he may have found a more effective way to deal with the problem by using a mini-protein known as a peptide.

We apologize, but this video has failed to load.

tap here to see other videos from our team. Try refreshing your browser, or UBC professor working on new tool to fight painful, dangerous infections Back to video

Here are five things to know about his research.

The problem

Abscesses can occur almost anywhere in the human body, including in and around internal organs. They’re usually caused by bacterial infections and can cause severe, painful inflammation and sometimes open wounds.

“It’s a huge problem. There are 3.2 million emergency ward visits every year in the U.S. related to abscesses,” Hancock said.