Three stories we saw this morning were so compelling that it was impossible to choose just one to showcase. Each was so novel, so rich, that they raised a deeper question: where do you stop? We could have spent hours digging into any of them. Instead, we’ll let you decide for yourselves, gentle readers, as we present each in turn — and return to that last question at the end.
Ancient Antibiotic Resistance
Our first story is a tour‑de‑force article in New Scientist by Joni Wildman. You may have already seen recent media reports about dormant bacteria in ancient sediments showing signs of antibiotic resistance. Well, Joni has the definitive deep dive for anyone who wants to understand what this really means. You’ll encounter plasmids, the resistome, and even how these discoveries might help us identify the antibiotics of the future. Her article is behind a paywall, but worth it — you get the rest of the magazine too. How ancient superbugs could help us fight antibiotic resistance | New Scientist
Joni’s article is behind a paywall, but worth it, as you’ll get the rest of the mag too
How ancient superbugs could help us fight antibiotic resistance | New Scientist
Mitochondrial Transfer? Confession: before we read this excellent article by Blake Forman for Technology Networks, we didn’t know very much about mitochondrial disease(actually our basic mitochondriology was a bit weak too) But it seems that some healthy cells may be able to donate their mitochondria, those busy little subcellular power stations, to neighbours with less healthy ones. What’s more, there are promising signs that this discovery may be translatable into practicable therapies, as Blake outlines in this extremely learned article.
Infections and Cancer Well, this story by Zoe Hardy of the Mail really had to go in: a new study claims that on e in eight cancers may be caused by a previous infection. No, we weren’t expecting that one either. But Zoe’s sources (International Agency for Research on Cancer, Lancet Oncology) are impeccable, their data wide and deep, and the conclusions faintly unsettling. The usual suspects are in there-HPV, Hepatitis virus, EBV and of course poor public health and sanitation. Naturally more vaccination programmes would help-but that’s becoming an uphill battle in many places these days, isn’t it? Once more, read the article and judge for yourselves:
All of which leads us to our main point. Each of these stories begged more reading, more digging into the data and more pondering. But in the part of the universe where we live at least there are only 24 hours in any one day, and only seven of those days in your average week. So: where do you stop? Read too much on mitochondria and you won’t have any time for green aviation technology or research on cocktails. But skim over everything and we guarantee you’ll understand none of it. It’s a conundrum which we have never satisfactorily solved. How do you do it. Gentle reader? We’d love to know.
#superbugs #antibiotics #microbiology #joni Wildman #mitochondrial disease #cell biology #inherited disorders #blake forman #cancer #infection #vaccination #zoe hardy #public health
