Entering the post-antibiotic era

[unidentical]

http://www.bbc.com/news/health-34857015

 

A strain of bacteria has been found in farm animals in China which makes it entirely resistant to antibiotics. This has happened before, the diference is that this time the mutation which allows it is quite simple and apparently easy for other bacteria to 'learn'.

 

A favourable mutation, if ever there was one, for infectious diseases. Researches believe it will spread globally and at that point medical science will find itself in a bit of a pickle.

A commentary in the Lancet concluded the "implications [of this study] are enormous" and unless something significant changes, doctors would "face increasing numbers of patients for whom we will need to say, 'Sorry, there is nothing I can do to cure your infection.'"

 

So it's looking like in the next 50 years or so our dominion over the harsh realities of Natural Selection will start to crumble, unless scientists can come up with a pratical alternative.

 

Personally I think that though this is certainly unpleasant news, long term it may help with the population problem a lot of countries face and ultimately could turn out to be a blessing in disguise.

[Guest]

I would like to thank Plague Inc. for.....oh wait this isn't a video game

[yannickverc]

So we'll all be zombies in 3 years? 

 

welp, fun talking to you folks. I'm moving to Mars. ^bye

[unidentical]

I would like to thank Plague Inc. for.....oh wait this isn't a video game

Madagascar is probably going to be the last place on earth that surgeons will be able to find work.

[DigitalHermit]

Kill it with fire?

[Castdeath97]

While it's definitely a interesting read I wouldn't classify that as tech news.

[Moondrelor]

Meh. I don't understand why anyone makes a big deal of these. I'm sure we have all kinds of diseases in us, it's just we don't know about them. We are filthy mammals and that's why we aren't visited by aliens We are diseased covered mammals. 

[KemoKa]

Meh. I don't understand why anyone makes a big deal of these. I'm sure we have all kinds of diseases in us, it's just we don't know about them. We are filthy mammals and that's why we aren't visited by aliens We are diseased covered mammals. 

And now this is the bit where I explain that because public toilets are the way that they are, Windows is the way that it is, and why that is the sole reason aliens have never shown themselves to us.

 

I'm-a go live in Antarctica. Bacteria can't get you there. Sure, they can spread in the cabins, but outside agents cant get you. They'll freeze, ice crystals will destroy their membranes and they'll die.

yaaaaaay

[Guest]

Madagascar is probably going to be the last place on earth that surgeons will be able to find work.

Nah It'll be Greenland or Iceland again

[KemoKa]

Nah It'll be Greenland or Iceland again

Bacteria can't live between a frozen wasteland and an active volcano. Let's all move there

[BuckGup]

Blame the doctors. If a kid has an ear ache they just pump them full of antibiotics. Also you don't need to wash your hands every second with antibiotic soap. Just running them under water clean them

[Moondrelor]

Blame the doctors. If a kid has an ear ache they just pump them full of antibiotics. Also you don't need to wash your hands every second with antibiotic soap. Just running them under water clean them

 

Yup. That's why we are over populated too. We let the diseased live.

[Moondrelor]

Bacteria can't live between a frozen wasteland and an active volcano. Let's all move there

 

I'd like a volcanic home please.

[BuckGup]

Bacteria can't live between a frozen wasteland and an active volcano. Let's all move there

But some bacteria can survive in space...

[Moondrelor]

But some bacteria can survive in space...

 

Space worms :3 Will it give me special lazor powers?

[as96]

I would like to thank Plague Inc. for.....oh wait this isn't a video game

Let's just hope the virus didn't pay €0.99 for the premium version so it doesn't f**k us over even faster.

[JAKEBAB]

How is this tech news? 

[ShadowCaptain]

TLDR: We are all dead - nice knowing you all <3

[ManWithBeard1990]

That's what happens when the agricultural industry keeps using antibiotics so eagerly. 

Thing is though it's just a mutation that makes it resistant to one strain of antibiotics. Not all of them. This particular one is sometimes used as a last resort when others don't work, but rarely.

The fact that the mutation can be transferred easily means it's on plasmid DNA (Yes, that's where Bioshock got its inspiration), which can be exchanged between bacteria. This isn't the first time this has happened (ESBL is a good example, which is being kept sort-of under control but care must be taken) That's just evolution at work here, It'll take time before it becomes that big of a deal though.

 

At some point in time a lot of the antibiotics we use today will be largely ineffective. That's true, eventually it'll happen, but with proper use, most importantly no inappropriate use, that time can be stretched quite a lot.

 

Interestingly, during the Cold War, while we were developing antibiotics, on the other side of the Iron Curtain other routes of antibacterial treatment were also being explored, like bacteriophages. These are a type of virus that will infect bacteria, but not us. They're very specific so there are thousands of strains catalogged, and they evolve in nature together with the bacteria. If our traditional ways fail, these may be a solution.

[Trik'Stari]

And now this is the bit where I explain that because public toilets are the way that they are, Windows is the way that it is, and why that is the sole reason aliens have never shown themselves to us.

 

I'm-a go live in Antarctica. Bacteria can't get you there. Sure, they can spread in the cabins, but outside agents cant get you. They'll freeze, ice crystals will destroy their membranes and they'll die.

yaaaaaay

You need someone to cook for you?

[CommandMan7]

I suppose the way to counteract this antibiotic resistance trend would be to start using bacteria themselves to fight off infection - modify the DNA of a harmless bacteria so that it will attack and kill a specific harmful bacteria. My grandfather is a Professor of Biology @ Wayne State, we sometimes talk about stuff like this and he sends me all the Nature scientific journals once he's done with them. He talks a lot about this kind of stuff, and about how DNA splicing techniques such as CRISPR allow us to freely manipulate DNA, and how we can modify viruses to change our own genetic code, since viruses reproduce by splicing their own DNA into your cells. The future is gonna be pretty cool, that is unless the public gets all scared at it and funding's cut, just like GMO's. But anyway, in summary, this technique could pretty much solve any disease caused by an identifiable physical change, including cancer.

[Centurius]

Meh, they're already pretty far into the research to replace antibiotics anyway.

[KemoKa]

I suppose the way to counteract this antibiotic resistance trend would be to start using bacteria themselves to fight off infection - modify the DNA of a harmless bacteria so that it will attack and kill a specific harmful bacteria. My grandfather is a Professor of Biology @ Wayne State, we sometimes talk about stuff like this and he sends me all the Nature scientific journals once he's done with them. He talks a lot about this kind of stuff, and about how DNA splicing techniques such as CRISPR allow us to freely manipulate DNA, and how we can modify viruses to change our own genetic code, since viruses reproduce by splicing their own DNA into your cells. The future is gonna be pretty cool, that is unless the public gets all scared at it and funding's cut, just like GMO's. But anyway, in summary, this technique could pretty much solve any disease caused by an identifiable physical change, including cancer.

^This. I'm excited to see programmed viruses destroying cancer as well. It can totally be done.

Did your grandfather ever tell you about the use of the Polio virus to fight and destroy brain tumours? That one was super-cool. Humans are immune to Polio, so it left the patient alone, but the radiation-hardened tumour (which had up to that point resisted chemo and radiation with little effect) shrunk and died. Awesome stuff.

I'd use a checksum virus, though. we need someone to program a checksum virus.

[unidentical]

While it's definitely a interesting read I wouldn't classify that as tech news.

Antibiotics are engineered chemicals, it's absolutely tech news.

 

Meh. I don't understand why anyone makes a big deal of these. I'm sure we have all kinds of diseases in us, it's just we don't know about them. We are filthy mammals and that's why we aren't visited by aliens We are diseased covered mammals. 

The worry isn't about the bacteria that are good for us, or the ones that aren't a threat, the worry is when we can't treat things like this https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pathogenic_bacteria and you get a cut on your leg which develops an infection and the doctor tells you that because antibiotics aren't working, if you don't want to die, they need to amputate.

That's the reality of a world without antibiotics.

[unidentical]

How is this tech news? 

In other parts of the world where people regularly survive past the age of 18 without being eaten by a shark or a spider, bacterial infections are a concern.

 

For the last 85 years or so, mankind has been using chemically engineered anti-microbials to defend itself against these infections. These substances are synthesized in laboratories and have been immensely valuable in all areas of medical science.

 

Just because it doesn't have an LCD screen, doesn't mean it's not technology.