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A Smart New Spin on Vinegar Could Help Stop Superbugs
Food and Wine ^ | November 21, 2025 | Stacey Leasca

Posted on 11/25/2025 12:52:42 PM PST by nickcarraway

By blending vinegar’s active ingredient with cutting-edge nanoparticles, scientists created a solution that wiped out nearly all MRSA bacteria in lab tests—without damaging healthy cells.

-Scientists in Norway and Australia have developed a “nano-boosted” vinegar solution that enhances acetic acid’s antibacterial properties using cobalt-doped carbon quantum dots.

-In mouse studies, a single topical dose of the solution eliminated 99.995% of MRSA bacteria within 24 hours and completely cleared infections within a week.

-The research could lead to new non-toxic treatments for wound infections and is a promising step in fighting antimicrobial resistance, which causes millions of deaths annually.

Vinegar is undoubtedly one of the most versatile tools in both the kitchen and the rest of your home. Not only can you use it in dressings, marinades, and more, but it's also an excellent cleaning agent, helping to keep everything from your countertops to showerheads sparkling. And now, thanks to a few very smart scientists, it might be used to help heal wounds.

In September, researchers from the University of Bergen in Norway, QIMR Berghofer Medical Research Institute, and Flinders University in Australia published their findings on ways to "enhance vinegar's natural antibacterial power," the team shared in a release.

The team explained that it was able to supercharge vinegar’s antibacterial properties by combining acetic acid — the active component in vinegar, which gives it that signature sour smell and taste — with cobalt-based carbon nanoparticles to produce "cobalt-doped carbon quantum dots."

What does that actually mean for people? According to the researchers, this "nano-boosted solution" can kill harmful bacteria such as MRSA, E. coli, and Enterococcus faecalis — a bacterium found in wounds that are difficult to heal — while appearing to remain safe for human use.

To reach this conclusion, the team tested the nano-boosted solution on mouse models. They found that in mice with MRSA-infected skin wounds, a single topical dose of the solution reduced bacterial levels by 99.995% within 24 hours. After a week, the wounds showed no detectable MRSA infection.

"Once exposed, the nanoparticles appear to attack dangerous bacteria from both inside the bacterial cell and also on its surface, causing them to burst," molecular biologists Dr. Adam Truskewycz, and an author of the study, explained in the release. "Importantly, this approach is non-toxic to human cells and was shown to remove bacterial infections from mice wounds without affecting healing."

Can’t Stop Popping THC Edibles? Your Genes Might Explain It This is more than just a novel way to treat bacterial infections. The researchers noted in their study that this new solution could help save lives, as "the global fight against antimicrobial resistance… is linked to an estimated 4.5 million infection-related deaths each year."

Cobalt-Doped Carbon Quantum Dots Work Synergistically with Weak Acetic Acid to Eliminate Antimicrobial-Resistant Bacterial Infections In a surprising breakthrough, researchers found that mixing acetic acid—the active ingredient in vinegar—with tiny cobalt-doped carbon dots kills dangerous bacteria. The nano-enhanced vinegar destroyed 99.995% of MRSA in lab tests. Adam Truskewycz, Benedict Choi, Line Pedersen, Jianhua Han, Melanie MacGregor, and Nils Halberg / American Chemical Society ACS Nano 2025, 19, 37, 33103-33117 They emphasized that there are too few drugs in development to fight antimicrobial resistance, and that most new drugs in this vein are variations on existing antibiotics. In short, they say we need more innovative solutions to fight bacterial infections.

The authors, however, added an important caveat in the limitations section of the study, noting that wound healing in mice differs "fundamentally from that in humans." Although the scientists minimized those differences as much as possible throughout their research, future analyses with animals such as pigs could and should be conducted, as they can more closely replicate human skin healing. Regardless, this work is a great start.

"Combination treatments such as the ones highlighted in this study may help to curb antimicrobial resistance," Professor Nils Halberg, an author on the study, detailed. "Given this issue can kill up to five million people each year, it's vital we look to find new ways of killing pathogens like viruses, bacteria, and fungi, or parasites."


TOPICS: Health/Medicine; Science
KEYWORDS: aceticacid; antibiotic; mrsa; vinegar

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This may be the most important development years.
1 posted on 11/25/2025 12:52:42 PM PST by nickcarraway
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To: nickcarraway

MRSA bacteria hate this one trick — but there’s nothing they can do to stop you.


2 posted on 11/25/2025 12:58:32 PM PST by ClearCase_guy (Democrats seek power through cheating and assassination. They are sociopaths. They just want power.)
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To: nickcarraway
Not only can you use it in dressings, marinades, and more, but it's also an excellent cleaning agent, helping to keep everything from your countertops to showerheads sparkling.

Nothing new…


3 posted on 11/25/2025 1:01:07 PM PST by mikey_hates_everything
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To: nickcarraway
How long before vinegar is declared a drug and will only be obtainable through prescription?
4 posted on 11/25/2025 1:01:25 PM PST by yuleeyahoo (“Pay no attention to the man behind the curtain!” - the deep-state)
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To: mikey_hates_everything

Yes - very strange thing. You can use it in your cooking, salads, etc. and from the same bottle, clean the carpet, mop the floors, and use as a toilet bowl cleaner.


5 posted on 11/25/2025 1:03:29 PM PST by Republican Wildcat
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To: nickcarraway

Odd it’s coming from a food magazine...


6 posted on 11/25/2025 1:10:28 PM PST by GOPJ (Soros & democrats back criminals, dope dealers, illegals & terrorists.<P><I><B><big><center></B>)
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To: GOPJ

I thought the same thing. It hasn’t got that much attention. This was the best overall one to post.


7 posted on 11/25/2025 1:13:59 PM PST by nickcarraway
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To: nickcarraway

Great news.


8 posted on 11/25/2025 2:17:49 PM PST by jimwatx
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To: nickcarraway

What exactly is the point of the carbon “dots” in this?


9 posted on 11/25/2025 2:21:19 PM PST by Twotone ( What's the difference between a politician & a flying pig? The letter "F.")
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To: nickcarraway

I use a vinegar water mix on unpeelable food...llike lettuce, kale, etc.


10 posted on 11/25/2025 2:54:04 PM PST by goodnesswins (Make educ institutions return to the Mission...reading, writing, math...not Opinions & propaganda)
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To: nickcarraway

Bkmk


11 posted on 11/25/2025 4:32:31 PM PST by sauropod
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To: nickcarraway

It’s interesting and logical in a weird kind of way... vinegar goes way back - maybe to the caves.


12 posted on 11/25/2025 7:08:08 PM PST by GOPJ (Soros & democrats back criminals, dope dealers, illegals & terrorists.<P><I><B><big><center></B>)
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