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Antibiotics are one of the greatest things ever discovered by humans. They've saved countless lives, they're the cornerstone of our modern "not dropping dead of minor infections" society, they were discovered by accident and they're not going to work forever. Sorry to end on a downer but this stuff is kind of important.
"Superbugs" aren't tiny S-logoed avengers out to save microbial innocents from bacterial Lex Luthors: they're disease-causing bacteria which have become resistant to our antibiotic countermeasures. This is an unavoidable effect of treating them - as drugs are used to kill the unwanted invaders they force a selection process which favors those resistant to the treatment, evolving strains which laugh in the face of medicine.
The only upside to this grim fact is that this is one of the few situations where you can talk about evolution without creationists getting in your face. Those who claim that a kind and loving God created all things exactly as they are tend to steer clear of discussions involving anthrax, leprosy and tuberculosis. Possibly because they'd have to redefine "kind and loving" quite a lot and the whole "it is sent as a test" spiel doesn't fly for a man coughing up his lungs while his face rots off.
Researchers at University College London have developed a tool which could help us stay ahead in the antibiotic arms race. A nanoscale springboard system has been designed to rapidly screen potential hunter-killer chemicals. The device consists of a sheet of silicon covered in tiny nanotech levers which reflect laser light. The other side of the lever is covered with mucopeptides taken from the surface of the target bacteria.
The drugs to be tested work by latching onto the bacteria and literally ripping its cell wall to pieces, exposing the vulnerable core to destruction by the surrounding environment. When a drug can latch onto the mucopeptide, it bends the cantilever and alters the reflection of the laser. The response to the drug can be observed almost instantly. While this technique only works for surface-latching antibiotics (by no means the only antibiotic mechanism), Professor McKendry and colleagues are already planning an upgrade where entire bacterial cells will be pinned to the nano-lever and stretched by drugs.
When a team is literally putting disease on the rack and getting all Inquisition on it, you know they're serious.
By Luke McKinney
"Superbugs" aren't tiny S-logoed avengers out to save microbial innocents from bacterial Lex Luthors: they're disease-causing bacteria which have become resistant to our antibiotic countermeasures. This is an unavoidable effect of treating them - as drugs are used to kill the unwanted invaders they force a selection process which favors those resistant to the treatment, evolving strains which laugh in the face of medicine.
The only upside to this grim fact is that this is one of the few situations where you can talk about evolution without creationists getting in your face. Those who claim that a kind and loving God created all things exactly as they are tend to steer clear of discussions involving anthrax, leprosy and tuberculosis. Possibly because they'd have to redefine "kind and loving" quite a lot and the whole "it is sent as a test" spiel doesn't fly for a man coughing up his lungs while his face rots off.
Researchers at University College London have developed a tool which could help us stay ahead in the antibiotic arms race. A nanoscale springboard system has been designed to rapidly screen potential hunter-killer chemicals. The device consists of a sheet of silicon covered in tiny nanotech levers which reflect laser light. The other side of the lever is covered with mucopeptides taken from the surface of the target bacteria.
The drugs to be tested work by latching onto the bacteria and literally ripping its cell wall to pieces, exposing the vulnerable core to destruction by the surrounding environment. When a drug can latch onto the mucopeptide, it bends the cantilever and alters the reflection of the laser. The response to the drug can be observed almost instantly. While this technique only works for surface-latching antibiotics (by no means the only antibiotic mechanism), Professor McKendry and colleagues are already planning an upgrade where entire bacterial cells will be pinned to the nano-lever and stretched by drugs.
When a team is literally putting disease on the rack and getting all Inquisition on it, you know they're serious.
By Luke McKinney
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