Don’t open Pandoraea’s box! Who knows what you’ll unleash!
This is Sandra Tsing Loh with the Loh Down on Science.
Pandoraea is an awful bacteria that infects mucus in the lungs of cystic fibrosis patients. But could we use it for good?
Here’s how that nasty stuff works. Meet Elena Herzog and team from Leibniz-HKI. They extracted two molecules from Pandoraea, and mixed them with compounds that test iron levels.
Results? Pandoraea steals iron from us to thrive. Even more devious – Pandoraea kills nearby bacteria by stealing iron from them!
So…Perhaps we can use this trick AGAINST bacteria to fight future lung infections. Booyah!
Wait… Isn’t that EXACTLY like opening Pandora’s box? Oh well! There might be iron inside!
Reference: Herzog, E., Ishida, K., Scherlach, K., Chen, X., Bartels, B., Niehs, S. P., Cheaib, B., Panagiotou, G., & Hertweck, C. (2025). Antibacterial Siderophores of Pandoraea Pathogens and Their Impact on the Diseased Lung Microbiota. Angewandte Chemie International Edition, 64(24). https://doi.org/10.1002/anie.202505714