bacteria Archives - Peak Geek

Use humans have had it good since penicillin was first discovered in 1928. It, and the many other antibiotics that followed, provided us with a defense against bacteria infections which previously posed serious, sometimes fatal threats to our health. Antibiotics also enabled new forms of treatment that would incredibly weaken our immune systems and otherwise leave us vulnerable to even the mildest infections. Things like chemotheraphy, organ transplants, bone marrow transplants, for example.

The problem is evolution. Bacteria have been adapting to our antibiotics faster than we’ve been able to invent new ones. It’s hard to say exactly when we lost that battle…but there’s little doubt that we’re now in an era where we can not depend on antibiotics like we used to. This is not to say that all infections will be fatal…but they’ll be much more serious than in the past. PBS Frontline has a great article and TV spot talking about this (follow this link) and it’s definitely worth checking out.

High use of antibiotics in factory farms is not helping things…though they’re not the only culprit. Antibiotics are ‘over prescribed’, given out like candy instead of held back for only serious cases. In any case though, more cautious use of antibiotics is really only going to slow the evolution and just delay the inevitable.

So where do we go from here? The antibiotic market has not been a very profitable one, historically, at least compared to the other pharmaceutical options. If that changes, it might attract more R&D dollars which may lead to new antibiotic discoveries…but that’s wishful thinking. The ‘last line of defense’ antibiotics are already very expensive…and as the problem grows worse, the number of patients willing to pay for a new option will sadly increase. Developing a new antibiotic is just not something that can be expected to happen quickly…and the big unknown is how long it will be effective, before it too becomes ineffective against an ever-evolving threat.

It’s a long article over at PBS…but something that we should all read, this is a big change coming to our society and the only way we can expect to counter it is if people are informed and act.

According to this article at Treehugger, antibiotic-resistant bacteria (such as MRSA and CRE) are responsible for more deaths each year than AIDS, in the US at least. It’s a problem that is only expected to get worse in the coming years. Not helping matters is the large extent to which antibiotics are used in animal agriculture – it’s estimated that around 80% of antibiotic use (in the US) is for that. The more we use antibiotics, the faster bacteria will evolve to resist them…there’s no escaping that fundamental fact of evolution.

Government officials at the CDC have recently warned against the emerging threat posed by these ‘superbugs’ as well. It’s not clear there’s any solution in sight though. We can slow the spread of these by better sanitation and reduced use of antibiotics, but it’ll continue to be a growing problem for future generations to deal with. 🙁

Remember the new type of bacteria Russian scientists found in a sub-glacial lake in Antarctica? Turns out someone jumped the gun on the announcement and they’re now saying it was actually contamination. Whoops. Though I still wouldn’t be surprised if they eventually discover something like this in one of the many sub-glacial lakes currently being explored down there.

Not surprisingly, when Russian scientists drilled into an isolated subglacial lake in Antarctica that had been sealed off from the rest of the world for thousands, maybe millions, of years, they discovered and entirely new type of bacteria that didn’t resemble anything like what’s been found on this planet so far. Amazing stuff…read more here.

Imagine a world where tooth decay was a thing of the past, without having to resort to extreme levels of brushing and flossing. We’re close to that point. A new molecule has been discovered that kills the bacteria responsible for causing tooth decay. This could potentially be added to chewing gum, candy, anything really. Human trials are starting soon, and under a best-case scenario, this could be on the market in a little more than a year.

Tag: bacteria

Welcome to the post-antibiotic era

Antibiotic-resistant bacteria killing more people than AIDS

No, that wasn’t a new type of bacteria found in Antarctica

New type of bacteria discovered in Antarctica

The end of tooth decay and cavities?