How bacteria feast on drugs designed to kill them
Findings could help scientists genetically engineer bacteria Indian Doctors Forum elects new office-bearers for 2018-2020
PARIS, May 1, (AFP): Scientists have figured out how some bacteria not only resist antibiotics but feast on the drugs designed to eradicate them, according to a study published Monday.
The findings, reported in Nature Chemical Biology, could help scientists genetically engineer bacteria to consume tonnes of antibiotics from industrial waste and livestock farming that leech into the soil and waterways every year, the researchers said.
“Ten years ago, we stumbled onto the fact that bacteria can eat antibiotics, and everyone was shocked,” said lead investigator Gautam Dantas, an associate professor of immunology at the Washington University School of Medicine in Missouri.
“Now that we understand how these bacteria do it, we can start thinking of ways to use this ability to get rid of antibiotics where they are causing harm.”
Discovered in the 1920s, antibiotics have saved tens of millions of lives by defeating bacterial diseases such as pneumonia, tuberculosis and meningitis.
But over the decades, bacteria have learned to fight back, building resistance to the same drugs that once reliably vanquished them.
Penicillin — the original antibiotic, and once the most commonly prescribed — has fallen out of favour for this reason.
The World Health Organization has repeatedly warned the world is running out of effective antibiotics, and called last year on governments and big pharma to create a new generation of drugs to fight ultra-resistant supergerms.
Bacteria can become resistant when patients do not finish a course of treatment, giving the half-defeated bug a chance to recover and build immunity.
Modern industry and agriculture hasten the rise of antibiotic resistance by saturating the environment with ac-
The new team of office-bearers of Indian Doctors Forum (IDF) was elected unanimously for a term of two years, in the recently concluded IDF Annual General Body Meeting at Regency Hotel on April 27, 2018.
This team is headed by Dr Surendra Nayak who was elected as the President.
The members of the new team are: President: Dr Surendra Nayak; Vice-Presidents: Dr Diwakara Chaluvaiah and Dr Madhu Gupta; General Secretary: Dr Mohan Ram; Treasurer: Dr Rajendra C. Mishra; Jt General Secretary: Dr Arun Joshi; Jt Treasurer: Dr Asit Mohanty; Cultural Secretary: Dr Antony Sebastian D’cruz; Jt Cultural Secretary: Dr Naquib Inamdar; Secretary, Community Services: Dr Sunny Joseph Varghese; Jt Secretary, Community Services: Dr Susovana Sujit Nair; Secretary, Membership: Dr Shahed Khan Pathan; Web Manager:
tive drugs. People release unmetabolised antibiotics into the water system though their urine or faeces.
Bacteria easily share genetic material. When resistant bacteria infiltrate the water or soil, they spread resistance-conferring genes to the bacteria species that were already there.
To determine how some bugs not only withstand antibiotics but actually feed on them, Dantas and colleagues studied four species of soil bacteria known to flourish on a diet of penicillin.
The researchers found three sets of genes active in bacteria that consumed
A photo from the event Dr Imtiyaz Nawaz; Asst Web Manager: Dr Sateesh Tadepilli. The AGM and the inauguration of the new team was held at Hotel Regency with the glittering function which was anchored by Dr Pooja Chodankar.
This was followed by presentation of medals to winners of table-tennis competition (Tameem, Dr Aravinda Rao, Arushi Joshi and Arjun Trikha) and presentation of prizes to winners of fancy dress competition held for children.
A warm farewell was given to Dr Jaitha John, Dr Bobby Cherian and Dr Qutub Jamali with mementoes.
The CEO Dr Hasan Khan then announced the results of the election for the new IDF office-bearers for 2018-2020.
This was followed by acceptance speech by new President Dr Surendra Nayak. He stressed the pivotal role of IDF in providing services to the community members in need through
penicillin.
They also discovered the singlecelled organisms had learnt to neutralise and snip off toxic molecules, like a chef removing poison from a fugu fish. After that, it’s ‘bon appetit’. The new insights could lead to strategies for cleaning up antibiotic contamination
IDF health camps, health education seminars, annual health guides and recently introduced IDF health assistance funds. He informed about the upcoming health camp and an educational lecture next week. He thanked the Indian Embassy, KMA and organization for their continued support and patronage. He also thanked the IDF members and family for their tireless effort and support in all IDF activities.
The vote of thanks at conclusion of official function was given by Vice President Dr Diwakara.
This was followed by cultural program which included singing performance by renowned playback singer from India Ravindra Prabhu along with IDF artists and a scintillating Punjabi Bhangra performance by Shaan E Punjab troupe.
The program ended with a sumptuous and delicious Banquet dinner prepared by the master chefs of hotel Regency.
in rivers, lakes and soil.
“With some smart engineering, we may be able to modify bacteria to break down antibiotics in the environment,” said study lead author Terence Crofts, a researcher at Washington University.
But any such a plan would require finding a way to speed up the action of the bacteria whose consumption of antibiotics — albeit effective — is very slow.
“But now we know how they do it — it is always much easier to improve on something than to try to design a system from scratch,” said Dantas.