PETALUMA -- A Bay Area company is beginning clinical trials on an experimental product that could change the world. Some call it "Miracle Water" but Oculus Innovative Sciences has named it Microsyn.

Company officials tell KTVU a proprietary process turns ordinary water into a powerful and safe microbicide. The product has now been approved in Europe and is being tested in the Bay Area as a diabetic wound treatment.

It smells and feels like ordinary water, but Microsyn, also labeled Dermacyn, is an electronically charged, super-oxidized solution containing oxychlorine compounds.

It has the antibiotic properties of bleach, but without any irritating or noxious affects. The water's specially sequestered chlorine atoms surround to fatally damage the cells of bacteria and viruses, but since mammal cells connect and interlock, there is no toxic effect to human or animal tissue. Doctors tell us it is as safe as ordinary saline solution.

Dr. Dirk Baumann, surgeon and director of the Mid-Penninsula Wound clinic, is not affiliated with the manufacturer. He says his early clinical trial research with Microsyn demonstrates the clear liquid stops infections in a wide variety of wounds.

"It has shown widespread effectiveness against all bacteria, including those which are resistant to typical antibiotics," Baumann told KTVU.

Drug-resistant bacteria are spreading though hospitals, causing thousands of deaths a year in the United States, Baumann notes, and this experimental disinfectant kills them all as well as fungi and viruses. Experts note bacteria, fungi and viruses have never shown any ability to become resistant to oxychlorine compounds.

"It also speeds healing," Baumann added, "by increasing oxygen to the wound area."

Oculus Innovative Sciences officials remain guarded about potential uses, but KTVU has learned that applications considered range from diabetic wound care, to sterilizing areas after a bio-attack, to cosmetic face wash and to creating safe drinking water.

One dramatic effect KTVU learned about, is the stirring of a little Microsyn into a jug of bacteria-fouled water. In moments, the water is safe to drink. With tens of millions of people worldwide dying each year from amebic dysentery, this solution could change the face of disease.