Bug Balance

Your mouth is full of bacteria but not all produce teeth-rotting acids. The problem with using antiseptic mouthwashes is that they kill all bacteria – including helpful ones – which can upset a natural balance that’s important for oral health. Scientists have developed a synthetic peptide called C16G2 that destroys the acid-forming bacteria Streptococcus mutans – pictured here before (left) and after exposure (right) – without harming other species. The development of this selective mouthwash may have impacts far beyond dentistry. Creating a variety of peptides that target specific types of bacteria could provide a new class of drugs to fight disease with fewer side-effects than existing antibiotics. It may even be possible to engineer communities of bacteria anywhere in the body to correct imbalances.

Written by Mick Warwicker

Mick Warwicker

Writer

A freelance communications consultant and writer, Mick specialises in science and education. A science graduate and award-winning print and broadcast journalist, he was Head of Communications at Newcastle University from 2000–2011.

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• Image by Wenyuan Shi
• UCLA School of Dentistry, Los Angeles, California, USA
• Originally published under a Creative Commons Licence
• Research published in PNAS, June 2015