New research has uncovered a way to amplify the power of antibiotics by using cold atmospheric-pressure plasma as a weapon to enhance its strength. The scientific advancement could provide a solution to the global health crisis of antibiotic resistance, say the researchers, and has been published in the journal Biofilm. Led by Queen’s University Belfast in collaboration with Thomas Jefferson University, USA, the research has discovered that merging cold plasma and antibiotics, can significantly weaken Pseudomonas aeruginosa biofilms, a common bacterium that often causes hard-to-treat infections, making it more susceptible to treatment, (pictured a plasma jet). “Our research demonstrates the immense potential of combining cold plasma with antibiotics in the fight against superbugs,” explained Jordanne Maybin, a PhD student from the School of Pharmacy at Queen’s University Belfast, and a lead author of the study. “It’s a potential breakthrough that could buy time in the race against antibiotic resistance.” Dr Thomas Thompson, Research Fellow from the School of Pharmacy at Queen’s University Belfast and co-author of the study added, “as both a scientist and a pharmacist, I have witnessed the growing problem of antibiotic resistance”. “Our research has given us an edge, and is providing a well-needed turbo boost to our antibiotics.” Prof Brendan Gilmore who leads the Biofilm Research Group in the School of Pharmacy at Queen’s University Belfast, and principle investigator added, “cold plasmas are a recent antimicrobial technology and this combination not only offers a potential route to the effective management of infections with much lower doses of antibiotics than are normally needed, but also some important observations in how bacteria respond to cold plasma treatment, which will allow us to optimise the technology further”