July 1, 2013 | Silver has a history of fighting infections with its antimicrobial properties, but exactly how it was done, or exactly what it’s properties were, have been unclear until recently. Biomedical engineer James Collins and his team at Boston University found that silver attacks bacterial cells by making the cell membrane more permeable and interfering with the cell’s metabolism.  By adding silver to antibiotics, Collins and his team have also shown that the potency kills 10 to 1,000 times as much bacteria than without silver additions. Although there are toxic assets to be cautious of, silver does provide insight to possible antibiotics for resistant bacteria. Nature