JACKSONVILLE, Fla. -- Researchers hard at work in labs maybe on to something big. Atlantic Ocean big.
"Being here in Jacksonville, we thought of no better place than going out to the beach," Dr. Amy Lane said.
Over the last year, Dr. Lane and her team collected more than 200 water samples in North Florida and the Florida Keys. So far, the marine bacteria and fungi is yielding positive return and proving one day, it could be used as an antibiotic.
"The favorite part about this for me was the result. We have got some really exciting and positive results," UNF student Vishal Patel said.
Typically, you and I get our medicines from land dwelling organisms not water. Lane says we have to start searching for alternatives.
"The drugs on the market aren't working very efficiently anymore. We need new sources of the next generation of drugs on the market," Lane continued.
If properly developed, the ocean antibiotics will be used to treat anything from yeast infections to pneumonia. Lane says the biggest reward will come when they see their research helping people and on the shelves.
"That is of course the long term pie in the sky, if you will," Lane said.
As you can imagine, these kind of things take some time to develop. It can an additional 10 years to be approved by the FDA and considered a success.
