Researchers are once again utilizing the Canadian Light Source, at the University of Saskatchewan, to fight drug-resistant diseases.

700 thousand people die each year due to complications with drug resistant infections, a number that could increase to 10 million by 2050.

That according to Dr. Anthony Clarke, Professor and Dean of Science at Wilfrid Laurier University, who says the CLS lets them study proteins, with x-rays. He explains they want to study certain enzymes and proteins, at the atomic level, because they are involved in making disease causing bacteria, more resistant to our immune systems.

Clarke says one of the ways in dealing with this is to try and knock down the bacteria’s defensive mechanism, weakening the bacteria enough so immune systems can fight back or anti-biotics can be effective.

Recently, the research team was able to understand how a particular enzyme works, and their next steps are to find the inhibitors that are defending it, and then return to the CLS to study both. Clarke says the whole process is decades in the making and is a constant battle to stay out in front of ever changing diseases.