Scientists at the University of East London have made a breakthrough, which could potentially herald a new dawn in the fight against a wide range of superbugs such as MRSA and E-coli.

The new range of substances is a series of molecules completely different from conventional antibiotics. Dr John George from the School of Health, Sport and Bioscience, has made a bank of laboratory-produced molecules. All were successfully tested in test tubes.

The molecules have been shown to be thousands of times more effective than other similar molecules against bacteria, especially antibiotic-resistant strains and superbugs. At the same time, they seem to have high safety levels, with very little toxicity (side-effects) even at very high dosage.

Dr George said: “For many years now, health professionals have been desperately trying to find something that will tackle the threat of MRSA. While it is too early to say whether this is the future in terms of fighting superbugs, I do believe it is a significant finding that warrants further investigation.”