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A novel way to stop the spread of antibiotic-resistant bacteria
- AllegedAlec 8y agoI don't see how this would be a long term solution. The bacteriophages would evolve to expand, or even switch their host selection pretty quickly if similar non-resistant strains of E. coli are available. E. coli is a pretty fast adapter itself. It'd become an evolutionary arms race, and as we've seen from the Lenski experiments, that does not result in the destruction of the pathogen's host.
- philpem 8y agoArchive.is link: http://archive.is/WP9F6 http://archive.is/WP9F6
- bbrian 8y agoDon't eat meat.
- chrisweekly 8y agoI'd suggest instead: if you're going to eat meat, be picky about its provenance. Specifically, insist on grass-fed beef (as the corn-based diet of factory cattle is a major contributor to sick cows and the "need" for antibiotics). Voting with your wallet -- thus providing signal to the marketplace that how meat is sourced matters -- is more effective than opting out altogether. Not an option for everyone, but many omnivores could take this approach. Combined with options like "impossible burger" we might be on the verge of a tipping point towards a large and positive change.
- paulcole 8y agoOpting out altogether is the most powerful form of voting with your wallet.
- chrisweekly 8y agoNot necessarily. By opting out, there's no signal at all that it matters how the meat is sourced.
- paulcole 8y agoHow does the factory farmer know whether: A) I buy my meat at the farmer's market. B) I buy tempeh instead of meat.
- chrisweekly 8y agoIt's not about one factory farmer being connected so directly to your specific choices, it's more like: restauranteers and grocers increasingly notice customers insisting on local, humanely raised, grass-fed beef, and thus they reduce their factory-meat order size and quantity. Factory farmer asks why, maybe gets an answer and thinks about improving conditions, or maybe doesn't in which case it's still a net win as the market share shifts in favor of the "good guys".
- Valmar 8y agoUseless advice. I could offer something just as useless: "don't eat plants". Meat and plants can both be infected with bacteria. And both require freezing and refrigeration to avoid spoiling.
- askvictor 8y agoThe meat industry is a major reason for antibiotic resistant bacteria.
- DiabloD3 8y agoA major reason, but not the only major reason, and not the largest among major reasons. Doctors constantly prescribing antibiotics for literally anything (even viruses, which would require an antiviral not an antibiotic), and then patients not taking all of their pills (giving you a double whammy of dumb) is just as bad, or even worse, than meat. Also, the beef industry in the US has stopped the practice of subtherapeutic antibiotics used for growth. Antibiotics can only be given to beef strictly by on-label usage, thus closing one of the possible routes. Pro-vegan propaganda does not belong on HN.
- richardw 8y agoIt seems a bit less cut and dry, and still unsolved. > is just as bad, or even worse, than meat. "By 2011, a total of 13.6 million kg (30 million lb) of antimicrobials were sold for use in food-producing animals in the United States,[53] which represented 80% of all antibiotics sold or distributed in the United States" > Antibiotics can only be given to beef strictly by on-label usage, thus closing one of the possible routes. "The FDA has asked drug companies to voluntarily edit its labels to exclude growth promotion as an indication for antibiotic usage." https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antibiotic_use_in_livestock https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antibiotic_use_in_livestock Even if the US comes down hard if there is are countries that still allows it, the risk remains. Resistance doesn't care about borders. > Pro-vegan propaganda does not belong on HN. Sure. But it seems an important issue and the facts seem to indicate it's not solved yet.
- gojomo 8y agoSuch bacteriophages are one area where Soviet research/practice outpaced the West: https://slate.com/technology/2006/05/the-soviet-method-for-attacking-infection.html https://slate.com/technology/2006/05/the-soviet-method-for-a...
- Uberphallus 8y agoA very insightful and concise video on bacteriophages by Kurzgesagt: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YI3tsmFsrOg https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YI3tsmFsrOg
- war1025 8y agoThat video was awesome. I really liked the animation style they used.
- lugg 8y agoMaybe not so animated but I really got excited by this ted talk about phages. https://www.ted.com/talks/alexander_belcredi_how_a_long_forgotten_virus_could_help_us_solve_the_antibiotics_crisis/ https://www.ted.com/talks/alexander_belcredi_how_a_long_forg...
- tutanchamun 8y agoBacteriophages are cool. I watched a documentary two or three years ago about western people travelling to Tbilisi, Georgia (were they use bacteriophages since the 1930s) in hope for tratment of their wounds which were infected with antibiotica resistant bacteria. First they determined which phages to use and then they injected them into the wounds while also giving the patient a cocktail to drink multiple times of the day that also contained these phages. At least for the patients shown this was helpful.
- elliekelly 8y agoAny chance you remember what the documentary was called?
- tutanchamun 8y agoUnfortunately not, I tried to find it yesterday but had no luck. The only documentation I could find was a recent one in german [0] but the one I watched was in english. In this documentation they also mentioned that there are two different types of phages and only one is usable. They also mentioned that food companies already try to use them to disinfect food by spraying phages on the food. [0] https://translate.google.com/translate?sl=auto&tl=en&u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.zdf.de%2Fgesellschaft%2Fplan-b%2Fplan-b-heilen-ohne-antibiotika-100.html https://translate.google.com/translate?sl=auto&tl=en&u=https... (not sure if that can even be viewed outside of germany, it's also not only about phages but multiple alternatives to antibiotics, but it seem similar -> people travel to georgia for treatment; there are two patients, one from germany and one from the netherlands)
- elliekelly 8y agoAwesome, thanks!
- gumby 8y agoHow lovely that the scientist who figured this out in Saudi is not just a foreigner but also a woman. It must be tough for her to work there. Wonder how the local news reported it?
- StavrosK 8y agoThis is entirely off topic, but it peeves me when people use just the adjective to describe a name when the name is "<adjective> <noun>". It's like saying "He lives in South" when you mean "South Carolina". Same goes for calling "Wikipedia" "Wiki" or "cryptocurrency" "crypto".
- nkrisc 8y agoAgreed. Calling "Saudi Arabia" just "Saudi" is like calling "British Columbia" just "British."
- blacksmith_tb 8y agoIt conveys a kind of breezy familiarity, which could be intended to suggest personal experience, or could be subtle snub - you hear plenty of people call the USA "the States" to potentially both ends. In this case, people also use The Kingdom or KSA as short forms for Saudi Arabia, though the former doesn't save a lot of keystrokes...
- StavrosK 8y ago
- emiliobumachar 8y ago"When offered various bacteria as potential prey, [the viruses] attacked only it." Any insights on how that might work, beyond attacking every option but only succeeding in one? Viruses are presumably too simple to make a strategic choice.
- JohnJamesRambo 8y agoBacteriophage are quite selective for their prey. “To enter a host cell, bacteriophages attach to specific receptors on the surface of bacteria, including lipopolysaccharides, teichoic acids, proteins, or even flagella. This specificity means a bacteriophage can infect only certain bacteria bearing receptors to which they can bind, which in turn determines the phage's host range. Host growth conditions also influence the ability of the phage to attach and invade them.” from Wikipedia
- mattjaynes 8y agoOn a sidenote, if you are thinking of visiting Tbilisi, Georgia (hotspot for phage therapy) I definitely recommend it. It's gorgeous, both day and night and so fun to walk around. There's some amazing architecture and great dramatic views from atop the surrounding hills. The city hosts people from all around the world, so it's fairly easy to get around even if you don't speak any Russian. Here's a video to get a feel for the city: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mWvXMGzUew4 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mWvXMGzUew4
- StavrosK 8y ago> it's fairly easy to get around even if you don't speak any Russian Is Russian that widespread in Georgia? That sentence strikes me as odd, it would be like going to the US and saying "it's easy to get around even if you don't speak any Spanish".
- cmrdporcupine 8y agoNever been but I think the assumption of the writer is that pretty much nobody who isn't from Georgia is going to speak Georgian, while my understanding is that due to history a high percentage of the Georgian population is fluent in Russian. Given geo-politics I imagine this is probably starting to change, and that more and more Georgians are probably learning English. But that's just a hunch.
- StavrosK 8y agoThat makes sense, thank you.
- geoka9 8y agoIt used to be that a lot of people spoke a little Russian, but nowadays you meet more people who don't (especially the younger folk, but they often speak English). If you have some time, I'd recommend venturing outside of the capital (Tbilisi). The scenery you see in different parts of the country is breathtaking.
- divan 8y agoKurzgesagt has a great short video on phages: https://youtu.be/YI3tsmFsrOg https://youtu.be/YI3tsmFsrOg
- extrememacaroni 8y agoMy god is this website awful, this is what I see when I first open it up: https://i.imgur.com/wcUDbhD.png https://i.imgur.com/wcUDbhD.png
- whitepoplar 8y agoI subscribe to The Economist and I still get all that crap.