NIT Rourkela uses medicinal plants extracts to fight antibiotic resistance

Researchers at the National Institute of Technology (NIT), Rourkela, have been able to produce a potent antibacterial agent using extracts from medicinal plants that are environmentally safe and effective, according to officials.

- PNN & AGENCIES

The research addresses the problem of antimicrobial resistance. The overuse of traditional antibiotics has resulted in the rise of superbugs that have become resistant to these treatments. All around the world, scientists are seeking alternative methods to fight these superbugs, they said.

The research, coauthored by Professor Suman Jha, Associate Professor, Department of Life Science, along with his research scholars Kumari Subham, Sonali Jena, and Monalisha Ojha, has been published in the prestigious ‘Surfaces and Interphases’ journal.

According to Jha, one promising class of materials that has been studied is zinc oxide nanoparticles, materials so tiny that tens of thousands of them could fit across the width of a human hair.