North & South – June 2019

NORTH & SOUTH| JUNE 2019| 45

previouslyunknowncompoundswere
becomingmuchhardertofind.Resistant
bacteriaweren’tyeta majorproblemand
itseemedlikewemightalreadyhave
nearlyalltheantibioticswe’deverneed.
Thesexinessofthefielddiminishedsub-
stantiallyatthatpoint,butwe’vebeen
soirresponsibleinthewaywe’veused
antibioticsthatallofa suddenit’sreally
importanttogetnewones.”
Theproblemis,theincreasingknowl-
edgeabouttheresponsibleuseofnovel
compoundsmeansit’slikelythey’llbe
usedfarmoresparinglyinfutureand
onlyagainstresistantstrains,which
also decreases the potential value of

neededtomaketheantibiotics,

andtheninsertsthatintonewhost

bacteria,whichcanbegrowninthe

labandcoaxedintomakingusefulnew

molecules.He’salreadydiscovereda

numberofcompoundsnotseenbefore

thatshowantimicrobialactivity.“Ifwe

weretowalkintoyourbackyardand

justgraba scoopofsoil,therewould

bemany,manybacterialspeciesin

therethatarecompletelyunknownto

science.”It’sthoughttherearetypically

about10,000differentbacterialspecies

ina singlegramofsoil.

Naturemighthavegivenusthedis-

eases– butit’salso giving us the tools

tofightthem.

Fiveyearson,MirandaMilneisstill

comingtotermswiththepsychological

impactofhernear-deathexperience.

“Ihaven’thadongoingphysicalconse-

quences,butit’saffectedmeonanemo-

tionallevel,”shesays.“Ithaschanged

me.It’scausedmea lotofanxietyand

myrobustnessandabilitytocopehas

lessened,soI’mtryingtobuildthatup

again.Itwasanemotionalordeal.”

Sheisthankfultothedoctorsand

nursesatTaurangaHospital,especially

herspecialist,DianeHanfelt-Goade.

“Sepsisnearlykilledme.Somanypeople

wereworkingveryhardtosavemylife

andtheydid.Theydida fantasticjob.”

“Weusedtojokeabouthavingplastic

surgery,”saysherhusbandAlex,“but

notanymore.Youwouldn’thaveit un-

lessitwasgoingtosaveyourlife,be-

cause it could end your life.” +

newdrugs,atleastintheshortterm,to

pharmaceuticalcompanies.

Ackerleyis workingwithpostdoctoral

fellowDrAlistairBrownandPhDstu-

dentHannahLee-Harwoodtocombat

so-called“Gramnegative”bacteria.

Thesearetraditionallyhardertotreat,

inpartbecausethey’reveryefficientat

pumpingantibioticsoutoftheircells.

Theteamis collaboratingwithDrJanine

Copp,a NewZealandscientistbasedin

Vancouver,torepurposeniclosamide,

anexistingtreatmentfortapeworms,as

anantibiotic.Theresearchersdiscov-

eredniclosamidecanworkextremely

wellif partneredwithdrugsthatstop

thebacteriapumpingit out.Theadvan-

tageisit’sanexisting,provenandwell-

tolerateddrugandin2014,Ackerleyand

Coppfileda patentforitsusetotreat

Gram-negativeinfections.

It’sanexampleofhowscientistsare

takinga newlookatolddrugs,using

technologyunavailablea fewdecades

ago.Inthesameway,Ackerley’scol-

leagueDrJeremyOwenisharnessing

thepowerofgeneticsequencingtoiso-

lateandidentifytheantibioticblue-

printofmicrobescollectedfromsoil

samples.Mostantibioticsweusetoday

areproducedinnaturebymicrobesto

fightothermicrobes,buthistorically,

onlyabout1%ofthebacteriafromthe

environmenthasbeenabletobecul-

turedinthelaboratoryandfromthere

developedintousefuldrugs.

Owenisolatesandcharacterises

thebacterialDNA,theblueprintthat

encodes the chemical machinery

WORRIEDABOUT

INFECTION?

Seekmedicalhelp

urgentlyif youdevelop

anyofthesesymptoms:

Slurredspeechorconfusion

Extremeshivering

ormusclepain

Passingnourine(fora day)

Severebreathlessness

It feelslikeyouare

goingtodie

Skinmottledordiscoloured

THEMOSTCOMMON

CONDITIONSTHAT

CAUSESEPSIS

• Aninfectionofthelungs.


• Aninfectionofthe
  kidneysandbladder.


• Aninfectionofskin,
  jointsand/orbone.


• A problemin your
  abdomen,suchasa
  holein thebowel.


• Aninfectionthatstartsin
  thebloodstreamandheart.

SEPSIS,BYTHENUMBERS

• Sepsisaffectsmorethan
  1 in 100peoplein
  NewZealandeveryyear.


• A quarterofallhospital
  admissionsarecaused
  byinfections.


• Sepsisaccountsfor2%
  of all admissions.

VictoriaUniversity’sbiotechnologyprogrammedirectorProfessorDavid

Ackerley(right)withDrJeremyOwen.Ackerleysaystheprofligateuseof

antibioticsinthelasthalfofthe20thcenturyandthegrowingriskofresistance

has made the search for new antimicrobials suddenly more attractive to scientists.