Scientists study how germs suck iron from blood to cause infections
September 09, 2004 PM ET

WASHINGTON (AP) - Could that ancient practice of bleeding patients really have done some good? A scientist says new research on how germs thrive in the body suggests it just may have - for some people.

Bacteria need iron to cause infections. The body has defence mechanisms to make it harder for germs to suck iron out of someone's blood or other tissues. But deadly germs can get around that so-called iron blockade, and understanding how might lead to better treatments.

University of Chicago microbiologists report Thursday in the journal Science that the staph germ - a leading cause of pneumonia and other infections - fuels itself with iron in a previously unknown way.

Early in staph infections, the germs blow open red blood cells. The Chicago researchers found staph then snatches their oxygen-and iron-carrying component, called heme, and discovered the genes that govern the process.