by Darren Murph, posted Nov 9th 2007 at 8:28PM

 The world is already well aware of just how potent (and useful) femtosecond lasers are, and a recent study conducted by a team of Arizona State University physicists explains how pulses could be used to dismantle viruses and bacteria without harming a single innocent cell. Rather than follow in the footsteps of indiscriminate laser treatment options, the group of Sun Devils reportedly figured out a way to "produce lethal vibrations in the protein coat of microorganisms," which has the potential to at least treat "blood-borne diseases such as AIDS and Hepatitis." The technique, dubbed ISRS (Impulsive Stimulated Raman Scattering), has shown to not harm healthy human cells while fighting the good fight against viral pathogens, and while there's no easy way to surmise how quickly we'll see this in action, we're gonna wait for a bit more proof before getting our hopes up.

Source: engadget.com