Scientists Isolate Hundreds Of Bacteria Strains That Use Antibiotics As Food - NYT

[hatrack]

Antibiotic resistance is a simple idea: Bacteria that might be expected to be wiped out by a drug are instead unaffected by it. But bacteria studied by a research group at Harvard take the idea to a new level. With these bugs, what doesn’t kill them makes them thrive.

The researchers, led by George M. Church, a geneticist at Harvard Medical School, found hundreds of bacteria that can subsist on antibiotics as their sole source of carbon. They isolated strains from soils in 11 locations, including alfalfa fields in Minnesota and urban plots in Boston, and fed them 18 natural and synthetic antibiotics, including common ones like penicillin and ciprofloxacin. Bacterial growth was seen with almost all of them.

The researchers, who reported their findings in Science, say these microbes could be considered superresistant, since they can tolerate antibiotic concentrations that are 50 times the levels used to define bacteria as resistant.

None of the microbes studied by the team cause illness in people, though some are closely related to pathogenic bugs. And no human pathogens are known to have the ability to eat antibiotics. They wouldn’t necessarily be expected to — there are plenty of better food sources in the body.

EDIT

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/04/08/science/08obmicr.html

[phantom power]

1. Yum

:9

[OKIsItJustMe]

2. NPR Covered this last week

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=89369906

Study Finds Soil Bacteria Can Live on Antibiotic Diet

by Nell Greenfieldboyce

Morning Edition, April 4, 2008 · Antibiotics normally kill bacteria. But scientists have discovered that hundreds of bacteria living in dirt not only resist being killed by antibiotics — they use the antibiotics as food.

(Follow the link to listen to the story.)

[CoffeeCat]

3. Yikes...

I'm getting visions of Will Smith's "I am Legend" in my mind.

[kestrel91316]

4. They need to find a way to incorporate these VERY HANDY bacteria

into wastewater treatment processes. And fast.

[Sal Minella]

5. Maybe if we distract the bacteria with antibiotics, they won't eat US?