BBC Focus 02.2020

DISCOVERIES

HEALTH

New drink could thwart

antibiotic resistance

A drinkcontainingbacteriacould

becomea promisingnewweaponin

thebattleagainstantibiotic-resistant

bacteria,scientistsattheUniversityof

Birminghamhavefound.

Thedrinkworksbytargetingplasmids,

whicharesmallDNAmolecules

foundinsidebacterialcells.Plasmids

frequentlycarrygenesthatgiveriseto

antibacterialresistanceinbacteria.They

replicate independently, and spread

betweendifferentbacteria,carryingthe

resistancegeneswiththemastheygo.

Thedrinkcontainsa newtypeof

geneticallyengineeredbacteriacarrying

whattheresearcherscall‘pCURE

plasmids’.ThepCUREplasmidsprevent

targetplasmidsofresistantbacteriafrom

replicating,andstoptheresistancegenes

fromspreading,effectivelymakingthe

bacteriasusceptibletoantibioticsagain.

“Wewereabletoshowthatif youcan

stoptheplasmidfromreplicating,then

mostofthebacterialosetheplasmidas

thebacteriagrowanddivide,”saidlead

researcherProfChristopherThomas.

“Thismeansthatinfectionsthatmight

otherwisebehardtocontrol,evenwith

the most powerful antibiotics available,

“e drinkhaspotential

toworkagainstmany

resistantbacteria found

in the gut”

aremorelikelytobetreatablewith

standardantibiotics.”

Theteamis nowseekingfundingfor

a clinicaltrialforthedrinkwhichhas

potentialtoworkagainstmanyresistant

bacteriacommonlyfoundinthehuman

gut,includingE.coli,Salmonellaand

Klebsiellapneumoniae.

“Thisis a promisingstart.Weaimto

OCMGOQFKECVKQPUVQ HWTVJGTKORTQXG

VJG GHECE[QH QWT R%74'RNCUOKFU

DGHQTGOQXKPIVQYCTFUCTUV ENKPKECN

trial,”saidThomas.“Antibiotic

resistanceis oneofthebiggestmedical

challengesofourtime.Weneedtobe

tacklingthisona numberofdifferent

fronts,includingbyreducingouruse

ofantibioticsandsearchingfornew,

moreeffectivedrugs.Ourapproach,

whichtacklesoneofthecausesof

antimicrobialresistanceata genetic

level,couldbeanimportant new

weapon in this battle.”

WASHINGONCOOLCYCLESISBETTERFORTHEENVIRONMENT

Switchingtoa quicker,coolerwashing
cyclewillhelpreducetheplastic
pollutionproblemandmakeyourclothes
lastlonger,a UCLstudyhasfound.
Hundredsofthousandsofmicrofibres–
tinysyntheticstrandsthataccountfor
morethana thirdofallplasticreaching
the ocean – are ushed down the drain

witheveryloadofwashing,wherethey

cantraveltobeachesandoceansbefore

beingswallowedbyseacreatures.

Researcherscompared30-minutecycles

at25°Cwith85-minutecyclesat40°C

andfoundtherewasupto 74 percent

lessdyereleaseandupto 52 percentless

microfibre release with the cool wash.

Lego blocks

supercooled

WHATDIDTHEYDO?

A teamofultra-lowtemperature

physicistsatLancasterUniversity

putfourLegoblocksintothe

world’smosteectiverefrigerator.

WHATDIDTHEYFIND?

TheymanagedtocooltheLego

blocksdownto-273.13°C,which is

just1.6millidegrees above

absolutezero.

WHYDIDTHEYDOTHAT?

Bothsuperconductorsand

quantumcomputersneed

extremelylowtemperaturesto

function.Thisrequirestheuseof

materialsthattransferheatas

slowlyaspossibleinorderto

maintainthelowtemperaturesfor

aslongaspossible.It turnsoutthat

theplasticusedtomakeLego

blocks,combinedwiththeirunique

interlockingshape, fits this bill

perfectly.

ey did what?