Antibiotic resistance: is Magnesium the answer?

Magnesium: that abundant but essentially humble metal that finds so many uses: tin cans, consumer electronics, aviation, Epsom salts, transport…..and many more. But could it be the clue to an exciting new development in the study of antibiotic resistance? Tessa Koumoundouros of Science Alert seems to think so.

A team At UC San Diego think that magnesium is the “Achilles heel” of antibiotic resistance in the bacterium Bacillus subtilis. It’s classic Darwinian Natural Selection in action. Put them in an environment with lots of antibiotic, and, hey presto, one particular strain evolves resistance. They get a competitive advantage and start to out-breed their pals without the resistant gene. But: there is no free lunch in Nature. To get an advantage in one area you have to pay a price somewhere else. Because the non resistant, more generally adapted strain are much better at coping when the magnesium levels in the environment drop. As Tessa explains:

Depriving environments of magnesium could counter the bacteria’s ability to thrive. And because unmutated strains don’t share the same flaw, reducing the key nutrient shouldn’t adversely impact bacteria needed for a healthy microbiome.

Her article contains a really clear explanation, and some good images. Great journalism.

It’s funny how research in one area suddenly gets a boost from something slightly unexpected and left-field. If we are to overcome antibiotic resistance, yes, new drugs will be needed. But, eventually, resistance will develop to them. We need other techniques too, to work alongside the new drugs. And this idea of nutrient balance seems like a really fruitful one to us.

[1]https://www.sciencealert.com/achilles-heel-of-drug-resistant-bacteria-has-been-found-scientists-say

[2]https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/sciadv.adq5249

#magnesium #antibiotic resistance #health #medicine #microbiology #natural selection

Predicting the Great Pandemic of 2025

Our readers are an intelligent lot, by and large. They rely on us to scan the media and sift the passing tides of information for something that might tell us all about what is going to happen. Which is why today we lift everything from a brilliant article called Which Disease is Likely to be the Biggest Emerging Problem in 2025?, penned by Professor Conor Meehan of Nottingham Trent University.[1] The whole trope of future pandemics is one of our raisons d’etre on this little blog. But our frequent postings (LSS ad nauseam) lack the authority and intellectual heft which Conor’s clear-sighted article possesses in abundance. If you want a place to start, his piece is it.

Conor starts by listing the current big three killers: HIV, Tuberculosis and malaria. which already claim around two million victims a year. Next he gives us the key watchlist which experts are monitoring. Our old favourites of antimicrobial resistant diseases are on it. Of course, you guessed we’d drag them in! But Conor zeroes in on Avian influenza, Subtype A H₅N₁. And it’s giving experts like him considerable pause for thought. We’ll pick out two points here. Firstly it is indeed jumping the species barrier and into humans, in places as diverse as Mongolia and the USA. So far direct transmission seems precluded, you need to contact it. But(this is our worrying secondly) it’s now only one mutation away from locking onto the receptors in our cells which will make human to human transmission a doddle. Right now in the dead days between Christmas and New Year, this may seem ” a cloud no bigger than a man’s hand” But so was COVID-19 once upon a time. As were many other pandemics.

Our thoughts? If you want a baseline of knowledge to protect you family/risk manage your business/sound knowledgeable in the pub, Conor’s article is the place to start. One more: one of the signs of intelligence is that it does indeed scan the future, and does not waste time looking to recreate a vanished and imaginary past. Happy Next Year.

[1]https://theconversation.com/which-infectious-disease-is-likely-to-be-the-biggest-emerging-problem-in-2025-245491?utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=The%20Weekend%

#Professor Conor Meehan #Influenza #pandemic #Avian influenza, #Sub type A H5N1

The article we have attached contains everything you need to know(almost)

The Fall of the Roman Empire and the rise of Christianity are the two dominant events in Western Civilisation. For they form the framework of our entire intellectual approach to belief, to art. to science and to politics and society. The doings of Gregory the Great, Charlemagne, St Francis Xavier, Napoleon, the Founding Fathers of the USA, and many others were all entirely conceived and framed in that meta-narrative, The Renaissance, Enlightenment, and Christianisation of vast areas were due to those who still avidly studied Greek and Latin, or spoke daughter languages such as French, Spanish and Portuguese. How did the Roman Empire transform so quickly? And then collapse?

Dr Jonathan Kennedy[1] thinks he has the answer. Following closely the work of Professor Kyle Harper, a scholar we have often cited in these pages (LSS 13 5 24,24 6 21 10 3 21) he sees the plague of Cyprian of the mid third century as the key tipping-point. There had been a terrible plague before: the Antonine one of the late second century, but somehow, like a groggy fighter getting up off the canvas, the Empire had recovered. This time was different. This was the time that the Old Gods failed. They lost the people’s hearts forever to a new God, who, until then had not been doing notably well. And anyone with even a casual acquaintance with Roman History will tell you, the whole feel of the Empire changed in those fifty crucial years. A citizen of Alexander Severus(d 235) inhabited a world of temples, philosophers, the agora and open towns in a vast trading network, which would have been recognisable to Cicero, or even Plato. A subject of Diocletian(reigned 284-305) saw a world of Churches, walled towns, command economies: the Middle Ages in the bud. The Plague of Cyprian sits right across these years, although Professor Harper also cites climate change, as old LSS buffs know well.[3]

So- most of what you need to know? Well, yes, today more than ever. Once again a society that imagined itself to be prosperous and enlightened sees its very foundations threatened, The old open trade routes are rapidly giving way to protectionism. Massive climate change hovers in the wings. We have already had one pandemic, and it almost wrecked our economies. Others threaten. As we write these words news comes that avian flu has once again jumped the species barrier, wiping out a valuable collection of rare cats in the State of Washington in the USA.[2] If not this influenza, there will be others. Is our world about to be transformed again, forever?

[1]https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2024/dec/25/birth-jesus-plague-roman-empire-christianity

[2]https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/clyvx4d1n4vo

[3] Kyle Harper The Fate of Rome Princeton University Press 2018

#plague of cyprian #christianity #roman empire #pandemic #economics #society

Obelisks: remarkable new life form shows there’s always an unexpected discovery around the corner

These days new life forms are like buses. Nothing happens for a long time. Then several come along at once. Plasmids, Viroids, Phages, Rickettsiae, prions…..now another discovery has been added to this strange quasi- bestiary of entities of varying complexity that seem to straddle the border lines between what is alive and what is not. These new ones are called Obelisks, and they have only been found (so far!) in types of bacteria that live in the human digestive system.

We have two links for you today, For a quick scan you won’t beat this one [1] from Ellyn Lapointe of the Mail. If you want a bit more detail. here’s Elizabeth Pennisi for Science[2] Anyway, they agree on the details. Obelisks are tiny bits of RNA, just enough to encode one or two genes, that seem to arrange themselves into tiny rod-like forms. Where they come from and why they persist are still unknown. But for us, whom readers will recall started our digital lives as an antibiotics blog, they offer one advantage. They exist as colonists in bacterial cells. Anything like that, made of nucleic acid, can in theory be tweaked. One more potential tool then to try to vitiate the effects of antibiotic resistant microbes.

[1]https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-14207419/scientists-new-lifeform-hiding-inside-human-bodies.html

[2]https://www.science.org/content/article/it-s-insane-new-viruslike-entities-found-human-gut-microbes

#antibiotic resistance #microoganisms #microbiology #obelisks #biology #medicine #health

Southern States make the same old mistake: pity them in the long run

Pity the poor people of the Southern United States! Because they are making the same mistake as their ancestors did long, long ago. For much the same reasons, we suspect. Have a look at this from Nature Briefings, Southern Scientists Face Political Problems

A survey of faculty members working in US southern states suggests that the political climate is hitting morale among academics and driving a brain drain away from the region. Nearly 3,000 self-selected participants cited diminished academic freedom, restrictions on reproductive healthcare, harassment and the erosion of support for diversity, equity and inclusion programmes. “Multiple faculty members at my institution have been doxxed and harassed, including by elected officials,” wrote one female instructor in Texas. “This makes it difficult for me to do my job or feel safe on campus or at home and honestly just live my life.”Nature | 6 min read

Teaching of certain ideas is to be restricted or banned, The Ten Commandments displayed in every University Classroom……why the fear of words, the loathing of discussion? Because the dominant group (largely white, male and fundamentally Christian) is profoundly insecure. A siege mentality is setting in. The key questions in academe: (“Is this Beautiful?” ” Is this True”) are now too dangerous to ask. There is to be one question only-“does this build up the defences of an ethno-nationalist society?”

The same attitude to learning bedevilled the Old Plantation-and-Slave south before 1861. As Hugh Brogan observes[1]

….a strange barbarous culture grew up which quickly annihilated …Jefferson’s Dream that the University of Virginia, which he founded in 1819, would be a great light of civilisation. The colleges of the South remained jokes until into the twentieth century pp294-295

And now their descendants are playing the same sad game. Why the fear of ideas, the need to snuff out questions?

America is fast becoming an ethno-nationalist society, where different groups jostle for power and status. Now there are good reasons to suspect that this is the natural state of human society. We have argued this before on this blog, citing authors such as Chua and Kaufman(LSS Passim) It may well be understandable, natural even, to defend a state of affairs where your group is the top dog. But happens when someone else has been concentrating on more profitable things, and then comes to get you? The South first learned the answer to that in 1865. Will it have to do so again?

[1] Hugh Brogan The Pelican History of the United States Penguin 1986 see especially ch 14

##ethno-nationalism #slavery #The South #Evangelical #republican

Cocktails for all those Christmas parties

Christmas is nearly upon us, and with it, all those parties, get-togethers, at-home drinks mornings and soirées which crowd in on us like….er,…..um……. several crowding things in a narrow place. Good. Which can lead to problems for the busy host or hostess-how to keep all those thirsty punters happy, because they’ll keep coming back at you for more, as sure as Santa’s got a sleigh. So may we, humbly suggest a couple of ideas to get you through?

Themes: First and foremost, keep ’em simple. You don’t want to spend all your party hours running up complicated concoctions like a Singapore Sling or Long Island Iced Tea (LSS Passim) Pick ones with three or four ingredients at most, which you can knock out faster than it takes for the Three Wise Men to hand over the presents. There you, go mate: bish, bash, bosh and a Merry Christmas to you all! Next?

Second: Bright and bubbly, lots of colours and sparkle to bring out all your trees, baubles nad holly, so the filled glasses look like more decorations. Bubbly wines and ice (the latter will always be in there somewhere), will always help add to trompe l’oeuil. That said, ready?

French 75 gin, lemon juice and chilled fizzy over a tad of sugar in a champagne flute. Looks good and goes down with a recoil to get anyone in the festive mood.

Classic Champagne Cocktail Once more unto the flute dear friends! l Champagne, brandy and a tiny dash of angostura, over a sugar lump. Don’t worry about the cost of this one, because after the first two or three they won’t notice you’re slipping in prosecco. Nor will they care.

Harvey Wallbanger Vodka, Orange, juice and Galliano over plentiful ice This tall elegant classic makes a colour statement on any Christmas table.

Bellini Peach juice, champagne and a dash of grenadine For those who like their slurping sweet, the old Bellini’s hard to beat! Will partner mince pies tastily.

East India Curacao, pineapple juice brandy and angosturas, we threw this one in to match the blue lights on your Christmas tree.

Benedict Benedictine, whisky and dry ginger ale over ice. A classic chest warmer for the season, though we couldn’t find out which of the two eponymous saints, Nursia or Aniane, first invented this one.

All these and many more can be found in The Ultimate Cocktail Book by Hamlyn, our ever go-to stand-by for the Festive season. Happy Christmas

#cocktails #christmas #xmas #drinks

Mirror Bacteria: the Plague to end all Plagues?

As every schoolchild knows, just about all the molecules employed in living systems on this planet come in two forms. And these forms are mirror images of each other. [1] For example, all amino acids come in the so-called L Form, with their D form opposites almost unknown. And this is true from the simplest unicellular organisms right up to the highest form of life known, which is of course cats. (The situation with sugars is opposite; the D forms predominate)

Why this has occurred is not known. But it is a fact, which has several consequences, one of which is that all our medicines and drugs are finely tuned to the molecular situation as it is today, and has been for thousands of millions of years. So what happens if someone engineers organisms which are the exact opposite: they have D amino acids and L sugars? The result could be beyond catastrophic. It could result in pandemics of superorganisms which might wipe out not just humanity but also many of the organisms upon which we depend for our food. So we have two articles today, one by William Hunter of the Mail and one by Mark Lorch of the Conversation, Because we at LSS think that you our readers-parents, grandparents, citizens, be whomsoever ye may-need to take this one very seriously indeed.

And our thoughts? At first we dismissed it, idly thinking that “stereo-opposite” molecules could never function in human tissues. The we recalled the Thalidomide affair, where one mirror form had beneficial effects, and the other was highly toxic. Yes it functioned, alright-and with what awful consequences! Our second thought was that there is no shortage of malevolent actors, such as criminals, terrorists, or dictators of countries large and small ,who would hesitate to deploy superweapons of this sort, if they believed it would increase their power by one millimetre. We doubt that bans attempted by the intelligent and good willed(as advocated by the authors of this article) will have much effect. The only hope is research programmes to try to come up with antidotes. It seems we have about ten years.

[1]https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chirality_(chemistry)

[2]https://www.msn.com/en-gb/health/medical/scientists-warn-over-mirror-bacteria-that-could-wipe-out-mankind/ar-AA1vNCP5?ocid=msedgdhp&pc=HCTS&cvid=c0d56b47d8a64

[3]https://theconversation.com/mirror-life-forms-may-sound-like-science-fiction-but-scientists-warn-they-could-be-deadly-to-humans-and-destroy-the-environment-246013?utm_medium

#chiral molecules #stereoisomer #enantiomer #thalidomide #microbiology # biochemistry #pandemic

Argentina: Now it’s the Right’s turn to threaten Science

It was quite hard being on the Left in the nineteen seventies. The Right had all the best arguments. It was getting harder and harder to defend collective solutions to anything, while their idea of individual freedom was very attractive indeed. Above all, they said, the free market mechanism required and guaranteed freedom of enquiry. No market can work if you are not allowed to ask honest questions about the price of gold. While the Left’s reputation on free inquiry was appalling(think Lysenko-but it’s still in tatters today in many parts of academe)

Which is why , fifty years on it so strange to see the Right throwing away this advantage. Now it is they who must deny climate change, as it threatens the sacred tenets of free market fundamentalism. They who, for indiscernible libertarian reasons of their own, must oppose vaccines and the hygienic treatment of water supplies. We suppose that desperation makes for bad choices. Perhaps that is why Nature Briefings has opted for this strange, sad story from Argentina, where, perhaps with good intentions, perhaps not, President Milei has embarked on a bizarre programme to try to abolish his country’s future, Researchers Fear end of science in Argentina:

One year into the term of libertarian president Javier Milei, his agenda to slash Argentina’s deficit has meant that, as his administration’s slogan says, “there is no money” for science. The country’s main funder of research projects has been forced to come to a virtual halt, despite most of its money coming from international agencies. Government-funded scientists have seen salaries fall and many have recoiled from Milei’s rejection of climate science. The result is that the country is facing a huge brain drain. “With six more months like this, there will be nothing left” of the scientific community, says Mariano Cantero, the director of an institute in Bariloche.Nature | 6 min read

We could declaim on cliches like cutting of noses to spite faces, right arm with left. or even cría cuervos y te sacarán las ojos.…but instead we’ll end on a personal note. We have always depended on the kindness of Argentinians, both in our professional visits to that distant country, and in personal friendships formed at various times over the years. It was once a very rich, progressive country, and still has a strong middle class yearning to be free. How sad then to witness them in another act of self-harm, burning the seed corn of future meals for the sake of an accounting theory. There is always a reaction in politics, and a Left wing Maduro style regime may prove to be even more terrible than a Millei style rightwing one. We hope that él sentido común may yet prevail.

#argentina #science #maduro #milei #science #research #r&d

Larry Elliott’s balanced view on immigration. A Must-read

Nothing releases passion like the subject of immigration. Nor is anything so certain to unleash binary thinking, with defenders and attackers of this essentially economic phenomenon dividing into mutually hostile camps, high on their own anger and righteousness. It’s time for some balanced nuanced thinking. As ever, Larry Elliott of the Guardian is here to provide it, [1] In an article titled It’s not bigotry to worry about immigration

We won’t steal his thunder. You should read it. No, really, this time. it applies to your country too. But we will dare to adduce the two essential points

1 Immigration isn’t all bad-it has serious economic advantages

2 Immigration isn’t all good- it has serious economic disadvantages

Our thoughts? Those who call themselves leftists should be passionately against immigration, as it’s a classic example of a free market mechanism disrupting society. Those who call themselves rightists should be passionately in favour of immigration as it’s a classic example of a free market mechanism disrupts society, which is always the price for economic efficiency. Can we go back to some science now?

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2024/dec/11/migration-figures-britain-economy-keir-starmer

#economics #immigration #migration #poverty #economic development

What is Truth? Professor David Spiegelhalter has some answers

Christ Crowned Thorns Gerrit van by J. Paul Getty Museum is licensed under CC-CC0 1.0

“What is Truth?” Pilate is reputed to have asked Jesus at the latter’s trial in long-ago Jerusalem. Yet it is a question of neuralgic importance today. For we live in an era of angry competing claims, where everyone asserts that their particular fact-set is equal to anyone else’s. Opinions are simply hurled against each other, like children throwing stones. No learning, no judgement is possible at all. How can we, that tiny group of intelligent people who must somehow carry Civilisation forward find some sieve to winnow truth from opinion? Professor David Spiegelhalter may have some answers.

Spiegelhalter is a statistician. Fans of Covid-19 may recall him popping up on telly a lot during that pandemic. Look out for him during the next one. Yet his list of criteria (derived from the work of Bradford-Hill and Doll) may be applied to any scientific hypothesis. as a first step to get sort out wheat from chaff. . We decided to apply it to global warming today, so here goes:

Direct Evidence

1 The effect is so great that it cannot be explained by any random variable: The planet is undeniably heating up fast and this has become statistically significant

2 There is a close causal proximity between cause and effect We’ve been pumping out enormous quantities of fossil fuel gases since about 1840

3 The “dose” causes a response and it is reversible This comes from medical science, but if the “dose” is waste gas, then compare the fossil fuel emission pattern curve with that of temperature That it is indeed from coal, oil etc is demonstrated the well-known changes in C₁₂ C₁₃ and C₁₄ ratios in the atmosphere

Evidence of mechanism

4 There is a plausible mechanism, explicable from known science, which explains the effect Carbon dioxide and methane are known to trap heat. Quite a lot of it.

Parallel Evidence

5 The effect fits in with what we know from other studies Consider what has happened in the atmospheres of Mars and Venus by comparison to Earth.

6 The same effect is found when the study is repeated Many peer reviewed papers have validated the early evidence; none have found against.

7 The effect is observable in very different studies and phenomena Studies as diverse as ice core samples, temperature measurements in oceans, land and atmosphere and the rising intensity of weather patterns only confirm the predictions of the first discoveries

The above list could be applied to any study of economics, social science, marketing or politics as well as the hard sciences, In fact Bradford Hill and Doll derived it from their pioneering work on the link between cigarettes and cancer. Any fairground huckster or well-funded corporate journalist can make claims. We hope the above will help you, gentle reader, to be a little more confident as to the veracity of those.

[1] Spiegelhalter, D: The Art Of Statistics Penguin 2019

#truth #science #global warming #statistics #evidence #reason #cancer #climate change #jesus #pontius pilate