If something isn’t going too well, you try to look to throw something new into the mix. Something different, from outside the field. We’ve been bashing away with new drugs, education, media ops for ten years now. And still the problem of microbial resistance to antibiotics hasn’t gone away.
Which is why we welcome this new idea covered in The Lancet. The application of advanced digital technologies in things like diagnostics, data collection, clinical decisions -the thousand and one everyday things of medical life-could be a real game changer. So we are rather proud to present these articles from The Lancet. the first [1] by Timothy Rawson and co-workers is a marvellously detailed road map for how it might all work. (Warning-there’s a lot of it, this is going to take more than one coffee break) The second is a general guide from the Lancet about how they will be promoting and covering the whole trope. Well done, them.
We need a game changer, gentle readers. We sincerely hope this is it. Remember- you read it here first. Well, sort of. Anyway, the less you have of us, the more time you will have to read the papers. Off you go!
Oh for those shiny days of the far-off 1960s, when all those brightly coloured plastics were new, and somehow modern. Your model of Thunderbird 2 was made of it. So were the seats in your dad’s new Austin 1100. So were bottles of fabric conditioner, drinking mugs and clothes of nylon. No more fuddy duddy old wood and cotton for us! This was the Space Age, and we even listened to David Bowie’s Space Oddity on a plastic record.
Except there was a catch. All this new plastic which was slowly filling up the world would one day break down into tiny indigestible particles. With no where else to go except into our blood, our brains, our tissues. So far so bad, but it gets worse. LSS started out as antibiotics blog, and this is where we close the circle. Read this: It’s from the admirable Science News website, a cornucopia of knowledge on many subjects
An international research team has investigated how nanoplastic particles deposited in the body affect the effectiveness of antibiotics. The study showed that the plastic particles not only impair the effect of the drugs, but could also promote the development of antibiotic-resistant bacteria.I
So what’s going on? Firstly, can we say how much we liked the simplicity of this study. It used a common antibiotic (tetracycline) and and some common as muck plastics (polyethylene, polypropylene and polystyrene) It looks as if microparticles of these things can bind antibiotics, which leads to both the reduction of effectiveness and the generation of new resistance. But read the paper and judge for yourselves, good readers.
And our thoughts? Well they’re more emotions really. A kind of vague melancholy at how progress in one area slow creeps up and vitiates progress in another. That Rachel Carson was right all along. And that all that glistens isn’t good.
OK, we have spent the past four years urging you to hunt down those pesky little microbes with every antibiotic you can lay your hand on. Now we’re going to tell you microbes are just wonderful. When it comes to saving us from Global Warming that is Read this piece called Microbes against climate catastrophe from Nature Briefings
In a call to action published simultaneously across 14 journals today, microbiologist Raquel Peixoto and colleagues demand that the world “harness the power of microbiology” to safeguard the planet. From the enhancement of carbon sequestration to the cultivation of biofuels, there are a multitude of microbe-based solutions to climate problems, say the authors — but these are not being rolled out effectively at scale. It’s time to cut through the red tape, they argue, and gather a global task force to help test, fund and deploy the best of these microbiome technologies.Nature Microbiology (and 13 other journals) | 5 min read
When we ran this one through the editorial board, we agreed we could not be accused of mixed messaging. Antibiotics are in the medicines file. Carbon capture is in environment. They are two completely separate disconnected entities, like the utterances of certain well-known US politicians and the observable truth. But: are they? After we finished the meeting, and before putting quill to parchment, as t’were, we went for an uneasy walk with our conscience. Up and down the bleak streets of Croydon. Past Fairfield Halls. Something was niggling at the back of our mind. In the Porter for a quick three or four pints. What was it about antibiotics? Round the shopping centre. Something extra about antibiotics. Back past fairfield Halls. People were starting to look Then it hit us! All these excess antibiotics, running off farms and so on may actually be damaging the very microbes which we need to save us. Read this extract of an abstract if you don’t believe us, from the accomplished Professors Yaozong Cui, Yanhong Li Lihao Zhang and Nan Ziao Environmental behaviour and impact of antibiotics [1]
Antibiotics are widely used to treat or prevent human and animal diseases, as well as to promote the growth of animals in livestock breeding and aquaculture. As a type of antibacterial drugs, antibiotics have been widely applied in human/animal disease prevention, disease treatment, animal husbandry and aquaculture, etc. A majority of antibiotics introduced into human/animal cannot be utilized directly, leading to the result that more than 85% antibiotics were discharged into the environment. Once antibiotics enter the ecosystems, they could influence the evolution of the community structure, which according affect the ecological function of aquatic environment. Correspondingly, antibiotic resistant bacteria (ARB) have been found, which is threatening ecological safety and human health.
Perhaps the best take on this is from the world-weary Professor Peixoto. We need-and urgently- a very deep understanding of how we live and manage the whole microbiological biome. But where do our rulers spend our money?
What’s in the water? Water is good for you, beer is bad. True, up to a point, especially for those of us who worry about our girth. But think before you drink, as they say. There may be more in that innocent glass of tap water than you bargained for, as this piece from The Conversation makes clear. Forever Chemicals in our drinking water……………
Clever moggy finds new virus Ailurophiles of all lands will applaud the tale of this serendipitous kitty who brought home a mouse that contained a hitherto-unknown, and rather scary virus, to his biochemist owner. Here’s the Daily Mail
Antibiotics from the past Leafing through our old pharmacopoeias and other databases may yet be an important new source of antibiotics. God knows we need to look anywhere and everywhere. Fortunately, Science Alert shows the way, with really good graphics(yes we always like those)
Can weight loss drugs boost your mental health? We at LSS recommend no drug or substance, as we are not doctors. But we will report on new reports about those drugs, provided these are covered by reputable outfits such as New Scientist. Here’s one about new research into possible mental health benefits of these new weight loss drugs which are so fashionable in today’s Zeitgeist, as t’were. Two caveats: once again, don’t do anything with these until you’ve spoken to your doctor; and, moreover, you’ll have to jump the paywall on this one. Thanks to G Herbert
We’ve been in the habit of making clarion calls for new research on anti-microbial drugs here for donkey’s years now. Even reported, where we could, on promising new results. Progress has been slow, we admit. But if you lift your head up and look at the bigger picture, there’s quite a lot of stuff we could be doing to ward off the fateful day when every bacterium becomes resistant. And once again, it’s that excellent website Nature Briefings which suggests some simple, common sense steps people can take now to keep them safe. Particularly in poorer countries, where the stupidities of the world economic order have combined to make cash a little tight. They’ve put up two blocks today, with links, and they’re well worth a read.
HOW TO SAVE MILLIONS OF LIVESLast week, we learnt that more than 39 million people could die from antibiotic-resistant infections by 2050. But it doesn’t have to be that way, argues epidemiologist Ramanan Laxminarayan — if we make sure that people in low- and middle-income countries get the appropriate antibiotics they need. “Even a fairly modest global investment — in the range of hundreds of millions of US dollars — to help prevent bacterial infections and improve access to relatively inexpensive antibiotics could avert millions of deaths,” he writes.Nature | 5 min read Reference: The Lancet report
STRAIGHTFORWARD SOLUTIONS TO AMR Better sanitation, improved infection control practices at health-care facilities and increased vaccination are among the solutions proposed by four specialists — from Bangladesh, Brazil, Nigeria and the Middle East — who spoke to Nature ahead of a United Nations meeting on antimicrobial resistance (AMR). For example, microbiologist Iruka Okeke says that access to clean water and toilets in Nigeria could reduce gastric infections and AMR simultaneously, yielding an estimated return of US$5 or more for every $1 spent.Nature | 10 min read
We always like it when brisk, cheap solutions, using existing ideas and technology make a real difference. We hope you do too, gentle readers.
#antibiotics #drug resistant micro-organisms #health #sanitation #clean water
Old hands on the LSS blog may be forgiven for thinking antibiotic resistance is all about bacteria, and that it all goes in in hospital with lots of medical folk in white coats and humming machines that do funny things with graphs, and all that sort of thing.
Well, it’s about a lot more than that. It isn’t just bacteria that are resistant to our drugs. Down on the farm, there’s a whole class of creatures called Playtyhelminths (aka flatworms) that can do untold damage to sheep, for example. For years their ravages have been controlled by drugs. Now theses pesky creatures are showing strong resistance to these drugs, And to make matters worse, these drugs are getting into nature from the sheep pastures, and starting to wreak havoc there. It’s a lose-lose situation. And we, that is to say humanity, are the losers.[1]
Why is this happening? It’s Natural Selection in action. The flatworms in the sheep guts are animals like any other. Expose them to a threat, (antagonistic drugs) and most will die. But a very few will carry resistant genes, thrown up by random mutation. They and their offspring will survive, and multiply. Mightily. Just like all those bacteria do with the drugs we send against them. The point is resistance is just an evolutionary response. It will happen everywhere at all times. The trick is to stay ahead of it. And the way to do that is to spend a little more on science and research labs. To plan to educate more people with the scientific habit of mind, where we suspend judgement and become open to evidence. And listen a little less to the kind of unreasoning. emotion driven story telling that pollutes so much of the Information Sphere. Some hope.
CREDIT We got this story by watching an episode of the popular BBC television programme Countryfile. [2] Not quite our normal cup of tea, you might think? Well, its amazing how their light, cheerful style gives you an in to some much deeper issues. Worth the odd watch, we say.
As if the threat from cancer, dementia and heart disease wasn’t enough, the world’s older inhabitants face a new danger. It’s our old friend antibiotic resistance-and it’s growing fast. That’s according to Kat Lay of the Guardian,[1] who has produced a fascinating review of the work of the Global Research on Antimicrobial Resistance Project.[2.3} They looked at data from 204 countries from 1990 to 2021, and have projected their findings forwards into the 2050s.
Young people will suffer from the problem it’s true. But their overall death rate from infections has been falling, partly from the success of things like improved hygiene and vaccination problems. It’s among the elderly that the situation gets bleak. Their death rates from antibiotic resistant organisms have skyrocketed by 80% over the last three decades. The authors estiamte by 2050 this demographic will be suffering 1.3 million deaths per year directly from resistant organism infections. And the resistance will be implicated, at least in part in a further 8.2 million annual deaths. Readers of LSS will observe, wearily, that every one of them will be avoidable.
So, what to say after all these years of blogging? After reporting on the work of so many fine researchers, and thanking so many fine journalists like Kat, and all her colleagues who labour tirelessly to keep this problem on the public eye? The fact that people are more aware of all this than when we started back in ’15 is something. And there have been signs of progress, as we have sometimes noted here. Keep people aware, readers. If you see a journalist who has raised it, try to find a way to thank them. Keep giving money to the charities who are trying to do something about it.[4] And, as with many things-don’t stop hoping
Just when you thought we were finally getting a handle on antibiotic resistant microbes, Damien Carrington of the Guardian[1] reveals a whole new, and rather surprising new danger. Antibiotic resistant organisms are not only thriving in agriculture, they are being blown across the planet by the winds. Ready to drop into an ecosystem near you. And start to spread their mischief once again.
That at least seems to be the conclusion of the versatile Professor Rodó and his colleagues at the Barcelona Institute for Global Health. Sampling the low air wind patterns (0.97-3.05km) between North China and Japan they found that potentially pathogenic, antibiotic-resistant organisms were blowing up to 2000 km downwind. And landed perfectly capable of reproducing at the other end. To make matters worse, the samples included organisms such as E Coli and Clostridium difficile, no strangers to these pages.
Why are we worried? Well, frankly we didn’t see this coming. Although given the massive misuse of antibiotics in intensive farming, maybe we should have done. And, if this is the situation between advanced countries like China and Japan, what must be happening in less fortunate regions of the world? One thing is clear. Antibiotic resistance joins global warming and mass migration as one of those problems which no country will ever solve on its own. Remeber that next time you hear them banging on in the bar of the Dog and Duck.
We hope you like the headline, good job WH Auden never got there first! Now, to business: our round up this week is a mix of stories, some designed to comfort the afflicted (“HOPE”) and others designed to afflict the comfortable (“DESPAIR”) So, without further ado, let’s set off on our journey of discovery!
HOPE: Smart Insulin We have always sympathised with diabetes sufferers who must depend for life itself on regular injections. Imagine if these were replaced with a smart insulin molecule that “knew” to kick in exactly when it was needed! Well, that day may dawn quite soon:
DESPAIR: Antagonistic antibiotics We have always hymned the praises of antibiotics. But we are also a fair and balanced lot (we would be thrown out of the Whig Party if we weren’t) and we candidly admit that there may be circumstances in which the prescription of antibiotics can produce unwelcome effects.
HOPE:Solar Power everywhere. Last year a prominent member of the Editorial Board had Solar panels installed. And remarkable they have proved. But every technology is only as good as the year it’s made in. What if you could develop a new type which you could coat onto everything-the car, your anorak, the garden wall? Scientists at Oxford University may have done just that:
DESPAIR: Microbes Mutate in the Microwave We keep a pretty clean microwave round here-and rightly so. All those nasty little stains contain microbes-and it looks as if some of them can mutate to survive the radiation beams. If they can do it a microwave oven then, they can do it in the presence of antibiotics or bacteriophages too. Depressing.
HOPEFusion Spin Offsbefore there is fusion One of our core beliefs is that learning generates learning. Discoveries in one area can have amazing spin offs in others. So, with a certain pride, we finish with this piece which suggests that all the herculean efforts to develop nuclear fusion technologies have not been in vain. We may not get the power until the late thirties-but there are already amazing benefits in everything from health to green energy. Next time some genius suggests cutting taxes, ask them if it will affect the University sector.
And finally: this thought from the late great Arthur C Clarke, who noted that there must be intelligent life elsewhere in the Universe: proof of this comes in the fact that they have never visited us on this planet.
#microorganisms #solar power #climate change #antibiotics #arthur c clarke
Photo by Duu0161an Cvetanoviu0107 on Pexels.comPhoto by Roger Brown on Pexels.com
A few science and health stories which prove there are still few intelligent people out there working for the common good
Mouth Bacteria may protect against cancer To beat cancer we need to think laterally at times, and take bits of luck when they come from unexpected discoveries. According to XanthaLeatham of the Mail, Scientists at London’s prestigious St Thomas Hospital may have done just that. It looks like the organism Fusobacterium may protect against certain types of neck cancer. We love these serendipitous discoveries by lab scientists-real shades of Alexander Fleming!
Antibiotics for sepsis We scraped this straight from Nature Briefings, that most worthy source of scientific information Definitely a sign of progress, we think:
EU powers ahead on renewables Like other big power blocks such as India and China, the EU is rapidly achieving crossover on renewable energy generation, as this article by Ajit Naranjan for the Guardian makes clear. Smaller countries like the UK are doing well too. That’s the way the whole world is moving. And therein lies our real problem with Mr Donald Trump. “Drill, baby drill!” is a policy based on the psychology of nostalgia, not science. One day it will have to be reversed. At what cost?
Life on Mars? Well David Bowie’s eponymous song was a long time ago. But not so long as these billions-of-year-old spots discovered by the Perseverance rover at Mars’ Neretva Vallis formation. Were they alive? Scientists are being very cautious, as Ian Sample explains for the Guardian. But when Bowie released his ditty back in 1971, it was almost heresy to suggest life anywhere in our star system. Now Mars, Europa, and Enceladus head a list of real hopefuls. Wahttps://www.theguardian.com/science/article/2024/jul/26/nasa-rover-discovery-hints-at-ancient-microbial-life-on-marstch this space, as they say.
Well, we won’t be rounding up every week. But every so often we hope to bring you these little clutches of news which show our side is still out there-and keeping busy.
Learning, Science and Society 