Scientists Notch A Win In War Against Antibiotic-Resistant Bacteria

Summary:
Scientists have recently made a huge discovery about bacteria and their anti-bacterial properties. This new method does not have to do with the breaking down of peptidoglycan using penicillin or breaking down bacteria walls at all. It is referred to as the "kick them when they're down" style of fighting bacteria. As a biproduct, bacteria produce something called ROS, which stands for "reactive oxygen species." Although not much is known about this key metabolism process, scientists have figured out how to use ROS to destroy bacteria. Normally bacteria can withstand a moderate amount of ROS, too much can cause the bacteria to die. The scientists were able to delete genes in the bacteria that in turn led to greater amounts of ROS production, which is lethal to the bacteria. This ROS method is more effective at killing bacteria than antibiotics.  Although this is no "magic bullet" in the fight against antibiotic-resistant bacteria, it certainly provides another weapon to the "antibiotic arsenal."

Connection:
In class we learned how some strains of bacteria have become resistant to antibiotics, and how this presents a huge problem to the medical field. If antibiotics do not work on a potentially lethal bacteria, then the person affected may die. ROS is an alternate way of killing bacteria without antibiotics that they may be resistant to, and it could reduce our dependencies on antibiotics in the long run.

Link:
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/02/130204095932.htm

Published: February 4, 2013