'); doc.close(); })(); }; /** Use gdpr_consent_callback for awaiting consent before executing this code. Pass along a reference to this script element so that the actual element, be it a script or iframe, is injected in the DOM immediately after this placeholder gate. IE does not support currentScript, so use fallbacks with the following caveats: 1.) placeholderId is unreliable in the edge case where there are multiple elements with the same ID. It does happen. :( 2.) Injecting into the document body when there is no ID works but the placement will be off. This is the last resort. */ var currentScript = window.document.currentScript || window.document.getElementById("script_mpulse_placeholder") || window.document.body; window.CnetFunctions.gdpr_consent_callback("script_mpulse", insert, [currentScript]); })();

CNET también está disponible en español.

Ir a español

Don't show this again

Sci-Tech

Got a plastic bottle? Now you've got an antifungal fighting machine

IBM Research has developed a way to convert PET plastic to an antifungal therapy. It hopes the new method could help more than a billion people suffering from infections.

IBM Research said it has developed a way to transform common PET plastic into an antifungal therapy that could help more than a billion people suffering from fungal infections. IBM Research

Got a fungal infection? IBM wants to help cure it with the plastic in your recyclable water bottle.

Today, the company announced that IBM Research has discovered a way to convert common plastic, such as polyethylene terephthalate (PET), into an antifungal material that could someday help people suffering from a variety of maladies.

In a release, IBM Research said more than a billion people suffer from some sort of fungal infection every year -- things ranging from athlete's foot to much more serious blood infections. But the company said existing drugs are becoming less and less effective as infections have grown resistant to many of them. Further, traditional therapies aren't very efficient at targeting and penetrating the fungi membrane wall, which they must get past in order to be effective.

By contrast, IBM's research has shown that by transforming PET through an organic catalytic process, it can be possible to generate antifungal molecules cable of focused attacks on the fungi membrane wall.

In addition to being a potentially effective treatment for so many people's infections, the transformation of the plastic could also be a boon to the environment, since there are 5.5 billion pounds of PET products that could be turned into medicine instead of secondary products.

Next Article: Facebook, Fortnite, net neutrality: The top tech headlines of 2018 (so far)