Health: Lasers Cure HIV?

According to Auntie Beeb, lasers could be used to combat HIV and MRSA and other such diseases. Currently, ultraviolet light laser treatments would destroy healthy tissue along with unwanted microorganisms.

However, a new type of laser treatment, called Impulsive Stimulated Raman Scattering (ISRS), which uses infrared femtosecond lasers with carefully selected wavelengths, has been shown to be successful in shattering the protein coat of microorganisms and destroying them.

After several attempts, the researchers found a level which "inactivates both viruses and bacteria while leaving sensitive materials such as mammalian cells unharmed".

Lead researcher Professor Kong-Thon Tsen, of Arizona State University, said: "The research so far suggests that ISRS will be ready for use in disinfection and could provide treatments against some of the worst, often drug-resistant, bacterial and viral pathogens."

Anything that rids the world of the scourge of HIV and MRSA is good.

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