Man v/s bacteria

Man v/s bacteria

Leading experts believe we could be entering a potentially devastating post-antibiotic era which means that a paper cut could lead to untreatable blood poisoning, or the risk of infection might render routine operations impossible. The Truth About Antibiotics, which premiers on Sony BBC Earth today (September 19), meets patients living with antibiotic-resistant bugs and the doctors researching radical new treatments, and gives an interesting peek into the world of antibiotics. 

Angela Rippon, the presenter of the show, tells us a bit about the research that is being done in antibiotics and how discovering a new one soon is like a race against time. It has been several years since penicillin was first discovered and there is a race to find the next big one. Rippon points out that the research is going on and through The Truth About Antibiotics, they will show us the work that is being done in Bristol, America and all over the world where scientists are working to develop a new antibiotic. 

“Since we haven’t had a new family of antibiotics for 40 years, now people assume that the ones we have had are brilliant and we don’t need to do anything more. It can take 20 years to develop a new antibiotic, it is not something that can be overnight as it is a very complex process. But someone needs to come up with a major breakthrough that will be used on a mass scale, for which more money from pharmaceutical companies needs to be put into research,” says Rippon. 

She laments that everything ultimately comes down to profits and money. “We are running out of time and what we have discovered is that we cannot take our foot off the pedal till we get a new family of antibiotics made available to us. The research has to be going,” she says. Every time we come up with a new antibiotic, it only takes a matter of time before the bacteria learns how to overcome it, so new antibiotics need to be in the pipeline for the next 100 years and beyond. 

As for the new ways to fight bacterial infections, Rippon talks about Dr Mark Merchant in the USA who has been working with alligators and has made a major breakthrough. He discovered that alligators live in places that are infested with bacteria — in swarms, so when they are injured, they may lose a limb but they fight off incredible injuries and don’t die. “There is something in their blood that is an actual antibiotic. Dr Merchant has been working for 20 years to identify it,” says Rippon. 

Citing another example, she mentions that in Britain, Dr Paul Race from Bristol University discussed his work on new antibiotics from sponge bacteria living at the ocean floor in the Arctic. “He said the most brilliant thing — ‘If we look in the right places, mother nature has already done the job for us because bacteria are one of the oldest living organisms and clearly over time most living creatures have found a way of defeating bacteria, otherwise there would have been nothing on the planet’,” says Rippon. 

Of late there has been a serious rise in the number of people who are affected by serious bacterial diseases and are many times left without a cure. Rippon says that bacteria are very clever organisms. “They are living organisms and they are able to communicate with each other, they learn from each other’s experiences which means that if you are overusing your antibiotics, there are many bacteria out there using it as an opportunity to discover how they can beat antibiotics,” she says. Ever since penicillin was discovered, there has been a war between science and bacteria and the moment the bacteria are ahead in the race, they are going to lead on humans. 

Talking about efforts that regular people can take to keep the miracle cure effective, Rippon says that one of the most important things to do is to wash your hands. Every human being is covered in bacteria — in the skin, blood and gut. “But most of the bacteria are good bacteria which enables us to break down our food and get nutrients out of it. However, there are also bad bacteria who enter our bodies through open wounds and cuts, so it important to ensure that we are constantly keeping our hands clean, making personal hygiene really important,” Rippon adds.  

As a presenter for the show, Rippon says that the thing she found most extraordinary was that 80 per cent of all antibiotics are used in agriculture. “In China, antibiotics are being used to fatten pigs rather than a way of preventing diseases,” Rippon exclaims. She concludes by saying that being a part of the show has helped her see first hand all the amazing things that antibiotics can do because of which she respects it even more.

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