Forget global warming, stop MRSA terrorism and get rich

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Novel Antibiotics

MRSA is a real problem. I work in a microbiology lab with a researcher who takes
a particular interest in novel antibiotics, and have taken quite an interest in these
little critters. I have learned alot from him but the one thing that sticks out in my
mind is this, There will never be a "cure-all" antibiotic because of one of the
biggest debates out there, Evolution. Like it or not evolution exists and it is the
biggest problem with microbes. They seem to evolve just as fast as we can find
cures to the desieses they cause. This is because they mutate at a very fast rate
(Ecoli can double its numbers in 20 minutes under good conditions). Each time
these microbes reproduce they have the chance to mutate their genomes, if they
mutate in just the right way they may develop new ways of combating our
antibiotics, and therefore become resistant. In the hospital setting or other
antibiotic settings these things "win out" over other non resistant strains and
therefore survive and reproduce. Novel antibiotics are the one thing we have
going for us, we are reasearching ways to attack their reproduction processes,
their transcription/translation processses, and so on and so forth, it will only be a
matter of time before the next great antibiotic comes out. The real problem
comes with the MD's who prescribe these things. Just the other day another of my
professors kids was diagnosed with an ear infection. 99% of ear infections are
viral, but what did the doctor prescribe? An antibiotic, which will do nothing for a
virus. This is the real problem, because now we are seeing that the bacteria that
DO cause ear infections are becoming resistant to our child antibiotics. So what
now? When we find the next big antibiotic we need to stop the doctors from just
handing it out, especially when it will do NOTHING for the disease being
diagnosed.

Posted by: Micro4Ever   Posted on: 10/17/07 You are currently: a Guest | Members login | Terms of Use

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