Drug-resistant fungal infections are a growing problem in the clinic. Patients with stubborn tinea, candida, or nail infections sometimes cycle through multiple antifungals with diminishing results, and the pipeline for genuinely new options has been thin for years. So a new material that is strongly antifungal, strongly antibacterial, and apparently non-toxic to human skin cells is worth paying attention to.
A team led by Flinders University in Australia, working with collaborators at the University of Liverpool, has reported exactly that: a sulfur-rich polymer (they call it Poly-1-Na) that kills a range of pathogenic fungi and bacteria in lab tests, yet leaves human and plant cells intact. The work was published in Chemical Science.
Why sulfur?
Elemental sulfur has been used as an antimicrobial for a long time — sulfur soaps and ointments are still in use for conditions like scabies and seborrheic dermatitis. The catch has always been that sulfur preparations can be smelly, messy, and hard to formulate, because sulfur itself doesn’t dissolve well in water or oil.
The Flinders group has spent several years turning surplus industrial sulfur into more tractable materials, including polymers that pull gold out of electronic waste and recyclable plastics. This latest polymer is a refinement of that approach: a sulfur-rich chain that is water-compatible and chemically stable enough to be handled like a normal drug-development candidate.
What the team found
According to lead author Dr. Jasmine Pople, the motivation was clear. “Antimicrobial resistance, particularly in fungal pathogens, is an increasing clinical and agricultural threat,” she notes.
Senior researcher Professor Justin Chalker emphasised the selectivity of the new material: “Importantly, the antimicrobial does not harm human or plant cells, so it has potential in medicine and agriculture.”
In practical terms, the polymer showed activity across multiple pathogenic fungal and bacterial strains in laboratory testing, including organisms flagged by the World Health Organization as serious drug-resistance concerns. Because it does not appear to damage mammalian cells at effective concentrations, the researchers see potential uses ranging from topical human treatments to crop protection.
What this means for dermatology
This is still early-stage research. Laboratory activity is a long way from a finished cream, ointment, or wash that a dermatologist can prescribe — there is formulation work, stability testing, and clinical trials ahead before anything like that reaches patients. We’re not there yet.
But the direction is encouraging. A selective, low-toxicity, sulfur-based antifungal would sit naturally alongside the topical antifungals already used in practice, potentially offering another option for resistant or recurrent skin and nail infections. We’ll be watching the follow-up work closely.