News in a nutshell
| 11 April, 2011 | Adie Chan |
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This week’s news includes the spread of an antibiotic-resistant gene in microbes and international efforts to curb the rise of antibiotic resistance, the development of tiny kidneys from stem cells, the identification of the first patient in the Geron hESC trial, a 3D model of rat whiskers, and the genetic basis of caffeine fiends.
Superbug spreading
A gene conferring resistance to a major class of antibiotics appears to be spreading in bacteria. In August, researchers reported that infections involving New Delhi metallobeta-lactamase, or NMD-1, an enzyme which destroys a valuable class of antibiotics, were recorded in patients in Bangladesh, India, Pakistan and Britain. Now, a paper published last Thursday (April 7) in Lancet Infectious Diseases found NMD-1 present in bacteria in drinking water and sewage samples in New Delhi, India.
Methicillin resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) bacteria
The spread of antibiotic-resistant genes across species of bacteria, including NMD-1, is causing a stir around the world. Last Thursday, World Health Day, the World Health Organization issued a call to action to combat the rise of antibiotic resistance, which they estimate currently costs the US health care system more than $20 billion and tens of thousands of lives lost each year. The Generating Antibiotic Incentives Now (GAIN) Act to incentivize the development of new antibiotics is expected to be introduced to the US Congress soon. India’s Union Health Ministry is also taking efforts to contain the spread of resistance in the form of a formal antibiotic policy to regulate the use of antibiotics in the country, according to India Express, though some infectious disease experts have questioned the ability of Indian officials to enforce stricter regulations, according to The Telegraph in Calcutta, India.
Artificial kidney breakthrough
Scientists at Edinburgh University in the UK have succeeded in creating an artificial mammalian kidney from stem cells. The kidney, which is half a centimeter in length, the size of a fetal kidney, was created using a combination of cells from human amniotic fluid and animal fetal cells, according to the Daily Record. The research is still ten years from the clinic, the team says, but they believe if the kidneys were transplanted into humans, they would grow into a normal size, reports Stv.tv. If successfully taken to the market, the technology could dramatically reduce the demand for donor organs.
First hESC therapy patient identified
An Alabama nursing student paralyzed from the chest down after a car crash in September has come forward as the first patient in Geron’s human embryonic stem cell (hESC) trial for spinal cord injury, the first hESC trial approved in the United States. Timothy Atchison had more than 2 million cells derived from hESCs injected into his spine in September at the Shepherd Center in Atlanta. Atchison declined to discuss if the treatment had shown beneficial effects: “It’s too early to talk about that,” he told The Washington Post. “We’re just in the early stages right now. It’s not at the stage to really know what’s going on.”
Virtual whiskers
You may hate live rats, but how about a virtual one? Scientists at Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois, have created a 3D computer model of rats’ whiskers, which provide sensory input to the scavenging animals to give them a detailed sense of their surroundings. The model realistically simulates real rats’ whiskery explorations, reports ScienceNow, and could help humans better understand how the brain processes sensory information.
Caffeine genes
In a genome-wide association study of over 45,000 human genomes, researchers have identified two genetic variants associated with caffeine consumption. One variant was next to a gene called CYP1A2, known to be responsible for caffeine metabolism, and the second was near a gene that regulates CYP1A2. Subjects with both variants drank about 40 mg more caffeine a day — half a cup of brewed coffee — than subjects with neither variant, reports ScienceNow. Still, the two genetic variants are responsible for less than 1 percent of the variation in caffeine intake among the subjects, the team reports, suggesting that rarer variants remain to be discovered.
April 11: This article has been updated from a previous version.
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The article is a bit confusing. NDM-1 is a gene for an enzyme which could confer resistance to a certain class of antibiotics. It is not a species of bacteria. I would assume the article should read, “The spread of the antibiotic-resistant gene NMD-1 is causing a stir around the world.”
Would this be a correct assumption?
Thank you for your comment Ellen. You are correct, and the article has been updated.
Best,
Megan Scudellari, author
We should not allow the minor shortcoming to obfuscate the major point. We should all watch for NDM-1 or similar antibiotic resistance conferring genes elsewhere.
Despite the editor of Lancet apologizing for naming NMD-1 (abbreviation ND standing for New Delhi) in a publication by the same group earlier, Lancet keeps on perpetuating the same name! When I first read about it, I wrote to Prof. Demain, one of the world’s foremost microbiologists and a NAS member, who I have known since my MIT days many years for his comments. His reply was, and, I quote, “I see nothing new or dramatic here. Antibiotic resistance has been occurring for a long time and we know that it will continue to develop. Indeed, resistance to the carbapenem beta-lactams has also occurred in the past. Thus, all of this hubbub about New Delhi and India and tourism is a lot of rubbish.We probably owe a lot to the Indian scientist(s) for discovering this new resistant pathogen. There is no doubt that antibiotic resistance is an increasing problem and it will get worse since pharmaceutical companies are giving up on discovery of new antibiotics.” Please take note. Thanks.