An antibiotic that gets its microbe-fighting power from insect proteins was effective at attacking a common infection that afflicts blast victims in war zones, a team of Temple researchers has found. The antimicrobial peptide helped speed wound healing and clear infections in mice infected with Acinetobacter baumannii, the most common systemic infection in soldiers who have burns or blast wounds. "[These are] bacteria to which resistance develops very, very fast. When soldiers get injuries like blast injuries or burns, they are taken to military hospitals. These [bacteria] are all over these hospitals," said Laszlo Otvos of Temple's Department of Biology.