McMaster University researchers have discovered a central controller or processing unit (CPU) of a superbug's weaponry（兵器，武器） . An article on the breakthrough appears in the high-impact journal Science today.

The team from the Michael G. DeGroote Institute for Infectious Disease Research has revealed that a small chemical, made by the superbug（超级病菌） Staphylococcus aureus（金黄色酿脓葡萄球菌） and its drug-resistant¹ forms, determines this disease's strength and ability to infect.

The bacteria is the cause for a wide range of difficult-to-treat human infectious diseases such as pneumonia²（肺炎） , toxic-shock syndrome³（综合症） and flesh-eating diseases. It has become known as the superbug as it has become increasingly resistant to antibiotics⁴（抗生素） and especially troublesome（麻烦的，讨厌的） in hospitals.

The discovery will provide new options for fight back and disable the virulent⁵（剧毒的，恶性的） bacteria.

"We've found that when these small chemicals in the bacteria are shut down, the bacteria is rendered non-functional and non-infectious," said Nathan Magarvey, principal investigator⁶ for the study and an assistant professor of biochemistry and biomedical sciences at McMaster. "We're now set on hacking⁷ into this pathogen（病原体，病菌） and making its system crash."

To identify these "pathogen small molecule⁸ CPUs", the researchers used cutting-edge chemical mining tools to reveal the molecular⁹ wiring associated with their formation. Then, to uncover its function, the McMaster scientists shut off its synthesis（综合，合成） , showing that the deadly pathogens had been tamed（驯服的） and unable to burst open red blood cells.