North & South – June 2019

NORTH & SOUTH| JUNE 2019| 43

TheEndofModernMedicine?in2017,
whichconcluded:“Afuturewithout
effectiveantibioticsandotherantimi-
crobialswillaffectusall.Thestakesare
enormousandtimeis runningout.”
“Antibioticsareamazing,”saysWiles.
“Wewouldn’tbeinquitethispickle
hadwebeenusingthemwisely.Resist-
anceisinevitablebecausethatiswhat
microbesdo:theyevolve.Weprobably
couldhavekeptthedrugsmoreuseful
forlongerhadpeoplebeenpayingat-
tentionto[penicillininventor]Alexan-
derFlemingwhenhesaidinhisNobel
acceptancespeechthatweneedtobe
carefulhowweusethesedrugs,because
thebacteriacanbecomeresistant.It’s
clearweneeddifferentstrategies.
“It’shumanity’sarrogance,I guess,
thatwethinkweknowbestandhave
beenusingthemwilly-nilly.Alsoaswe
startedtoseefewerinfectiousdiseases
andmoreofotherthings,wethought,
‘Oh,thesearedrugswedon’tneednow,
wecangooffanddosomethingelse,’
sothatmeansthecupboardhasbeen
gettingbarerandbarer.”
Sheandherteamarelookingtofillthe
cupboardbyscouringfungicollectedby
ManaakiWhenuaLandcareResearch.
Mycologists(peoplewhostudyfungi)
addtothecollection,beguninthe1950s,
everyyearwhentheyandotherenthu-
siastsgointothecommunityon“fungal
forays”tosearchfornewspecies.Wiles’
teamhasscreenedaround 700 different
speciesandshesaysmanyshowanti-
bacterialactivity;severalarenovelcom-
poundsneveridentifiedbefore.
Wearelivinginwhatmightlaterbe
viewedasa goldenage,Wilesbelieves.
“ThewayI amslowlycomingaroundto
this,andthisisa bleakview,isthatwe
areincrediblyluckyandprivileged.We
liveinanerawherelifeexpectancyhas
risen,thereis goodsanitation,incredible
vaccinesandgooddrugs,andmostchil-
drendon’tdiebeforetheageoffive.For
muchofourspecies’existence,thathas
notbeenthewaywehavelived.People
1000 yearsfromnowwilllookbackand
think,‘Wow,weren’ttheylucky?’Weare
inanarms-racewithanopponentwho
evolvesfasterthanwecan.”
OtagoUniversityresearcherProfes-
sorTonyKettle,who’sbeeninvolvedin
thatarmsracefor 30 years,largelyasa
resultofhismother’stuberculosis,has
focusedontheroleofthewhiteblood
cellsthatkillbacteriabyproducing
chlorine bleach, similar to what we’d

Top:MicrobiologistSiouxsieWiles.“Antibioticsareamazing,”shesays.

“Wewouldn’tbeinquitethispicklehadwebeenusingthemwisely.

Resistanceisinevitablebecausethatiswhatmicrobesdo:theyevolve.”

Above:OtagoUniversityresearcherProfessorTonyKettlehasfocused

on the role of neutrophils, white blood cells that kill bacteria.