Well, humans, we had a good run: "invincible" bacteria found in the wild

[Recursion]

http://www.rawstory.com/2015/11/invincible-bacteria-threatens-global-epidemic-study/

Medicine’s final line of defence against deadly disease has been breached, raising the spectre of a global epidemic, scientists say, after finding bacteria resistant to last-resort antibiotics.

The discovery could herald a virtual return to the Dark Ages, with doctors unable to control common germs like E. Coli, rolling back centuries of medical progress.

“These are extremely worryingly results,” said Liu Jian-Hua, a professor at China’s Southern Agricultural University and co-author of a new study.

Liu and his colleagues found a gene, called MCR-1, that allows bacteria to become resistant to a class of antibiotics known as polymyxins, which are used to fight superbugs.

[villager]

1. And now that this is known, how long before it becomes weaponized?

n/t

[Quackers]

2. It wouldn't surprise me if that's where it originated in the first place. nt

[magical thyme]

16. nope. per the article, theraputic drugs fed to factory pigs in China. nt

[jwirr]

39. I watched a segment on Thom Hartman that talked about

the TPP and the FDA. If passed the FDA would not have any control over foreign foods that are imported into the USA. No labeling for the place of origin and no control over how they are grown.

Good article.

[magical thyme]

41. yup. another bunch of reasons to oppose the TPP. nt

[Spitfire of ATJ]

3. So, instead of nuking them we'll give them genital boils.

[pediatricmedic]

38. Why bother, it will exist everywhere

No profit or benefit to it.

Finding a temporary cure will be worth Billions though.

[Alkene]

4. ...

[riversedge]

5. #UPDATE: World Health Organization confirms new Ebola case in Liberia, previously declared free of t

Related.


Agence France-Presse ?@AFP 52m52 minutes ago

#UPDATE: World Health Organization confirms new Ebola case in Liberia, previously declared free of the virus http://u.afp.com/ZgwF

[bemildred]

6. It's really their planet, we just think we own it. nt

[Spider Jerusalem]

7. Penicillin wasn't discovered until 1928

somehow we survived as a species for quite a long time without antibiotics. Humanity will survive, for now.

[Recursion]

10. Yeah, we survived at about 1/7th our current population (nt)

[FLPanhandle]

14. Which is probably the right carrying capacity of the Earth for humans

Knocking our population back to that level would be the best thing for the planet.

[smirkymonkey]

21. Unfortunately, yes.

Maybe this is the planet's way of saving itself from us.

[zazen]

23. the scope of suffering will be agonizing to us personally, but you're right

I'm under no illusion that such culling would involve most everyone I love, and that I'd probably be spared most of the pain because I'd be one of the first to go.

And the poorest urban populations will probably be hit hardest, first.

It's mind boggling.

Returning to another distraction so I don't have to think about it anymore.

[jwirr]

40. The poor, the sick, the elderly and yes those living in close

proximity.

[FLPanhandle]

54. It's a fact

And I have not named anyone. Who could if there were a pandemic?

You read too much into a simple fact that the Earth would be better off with far fewer humans on it.

[Crunchy Frog]

57. Probably had more to do with our agricultural capacity

With the technology of the time period.

[Recursion]

58. True; pre Haber and Borlaug

It's hard to to tease out because Haber-Bosch and antibiotics hit at largely the same time.

[Spider Jerusalem]

63. You say that like it's a bad thing

the long-term sustainable carrying capacity of the planet is probably a human population of around 2 billion.

[NickB79]

45. That was before we bred like rabbits and packed ourselves into cities like sardines

I would not want to live in a slum like this when the invincible bacteria make it out.

[Recursion]

59. Birth rates were higher back then

But infant, perinatal, and childhood mortality were much much higher.

Freud, of all people, pointed out that a medieval peasant couple might have 8 kids, 1 of whom lives to adulthood, but a 19th-century bourgeois couple having 2 kids, both of whom lived to adulthood, made for greater population growth.

Throughout history, the most effective contraceptive ever has been economic development.

[bigwillq]

8. These darn anti-vaxxers

?

[postulater]

9. The rise of the Bac-Terrorists.

We have antibiotic-ed them so heavily that their young have radicalized and are now dispersing among us. Their sleeper cells will appear everywhere.

NUKEM NOW!!!

[smorkingapple]

11. Let's put them on a list and watch them intently.

[alphafemale]

12. OMG! We're ALL going to DIE. It's for reals this time!

Unlike the thousands of other times this claim has been made on DU.

yawn

[951-Riverside]

13. We're already over populated

Maybe its about time nature lightened the load.

[jwirr]

42. Nature has many tools.

[magical thyme]

15. so once again stupid humans fed a therapeutic drug (Colistin) to factory animals (pigs)

and are surprised, shocked and horrified that the bacteria resident in the pigs developed immunity to the drug.

This has been known for a long, long time. That this time the factory "farmers" chose to use a drug from the 'last resort' class of drugs shows stupidity of incredible levels.

Bacteria evolve in realtime. Bacteria DNA doesn't have the "proofreader/editor" capabilities of "higher" animals. Therefore, random mutations occur with much greater frequency. That increases the odds of a random mutation that confers a competitive advantage appearing and subsequently getting a toehold.

It is unfortunate that in this particular case, the gene in question seems to get passed around quite easily. Apparently it has been found in both e. coli and k. pneumoniae.

DON'T BUY PIG MEAT OF ANY TYPE FROM CHINA. And if you do break down, wash your hands/countertops/utensils/etc and cook it thoroughly.

[KamaAina]

24. How am I supposed to know if it's from China?

Now that country-of-origin labels have been declared a barrier to the almighty free trade.

[magical thyme]

25. iirc, some big pig companies are in Mexico. So research the companies or...

kiss your bacon good-bye

[damnedifIknow]

17. Time for the dolphins to take over

Which if you look at the way we humans have done things, it's probably best.

[FLPanhandle]

18. Actually, dophins can be some pretty nasty fucks too.

But they are a still a step up from humans

[zazen]

22. really? I'm kinda afraid to ask . . . .

[FLPanhandle]

44. Yep.

http://www.unbelievable-facts.com/2015/08/dolphins-facts.html

Read at your own risk.

[darkangel218]

56. Oh man!!

Why did I click on your link!

Ewwwwwww!!!

[JanMichael]

67. i did it too...oh gawd my mind is ruined. nt.

[AngryAmish]

19. Gene drive the bug to make it susceptible to pennicillan

[Tierra_y_Libertad]

20. There is no safety in the cosmos. Alan Watts

[merrily]

26. We've had a long run. Whether we've had a good one could be debated for a century.

Bacteria, global warming, asteroids--which will get us first? Or will it be something we've yet to imagine?

Whatever it is, I hope the species does not suffer much before going extinct. Not even humans deserve that.

[ruffburr]

27. It's A-

GOOD day for the planet, A little something to rid it of the worst parasites that ever existed.

[elleng]

28. It's 'nature,' 'progress' will do us in.

[lpbk2713]

29. I think the human race has proven its obsolescence.

It's probably time for some other life form to have their shot.

[NaturalHigh]

31. I've had similar thoughts for a while.

Actually I have a couple of thoughts.

God created us all, and He's terribly disappointed in what we've become; or we're just a slight bump on the evolutionary chain.

[NaturalHigh]

30. Well, that's it for us monkeys.

[Rex]

32. Pfffttt...the bacteria in my stomach LAUGHS at this super bug!

The shit I have absorbed with the bacteria in my stomach should have killed me 10 times over by now.

[Shandris]

33. I suppose this will take care of most of the big city problems.

...I think I could have come up with better alternatives, though.

OTOH, I'll bet Eastern Medicine is about to get a WHOLE LOT of new practitioners.

[Ace Rothstein]

34. Enjoy the weekend everyone!

[Blue_Tires]

35. I ain't skeered...

[librechik]

36. really? let's bring it to a highly populated location and do experiments.

because that is what we do.

[Initech]

37. And that's how the zombie apocalypse gets started.

[Avalux]

43. They DID NOT find an invincible new bacteria - it's a gene that can make bacteria resistant.

The gene can occur in a variety of bacteria, and makes them immune to polymyxins, the strongest antibiotics available.

The reason for this gene? Misuse of antibiotics in a lot of different ways. This was bound to happen eventually.

Also - drug companies don't like to invest in antibiotic development because it's a limited market. Because of this, we don't really have any 'new' antibiotics that can get out ahead of this.

This is one area where I feel strongly about federal level drug research. We need a robust antibiotic development program that isn't tied to big pharma.

[bluedigger]

46. Well. at least we really left our mark on the planet.

That's how I like to think of it, anyways.

[NickB79]

50. Per your own link, this is not a wide-spectrum antibiotic

There are limits to the discovery of the antibiotic teixobactin, which has yet to be tested in people.

It works on only Gram-positive bacteria; this includes MRSA and mycobacterium tuberculosis.

It cannot penetrate the extra layer of protection in Gram-negative bacteria such as E. coli.

The OP's article spoke of species such as E. coli carrying this plasmid, so this, the first new antibiotic in 30 years, would be ineffective against it.

[Recursion]

61. I want to be clear that "we had a good run" was tongue in cheek

And like most "science journalism" (generally done by people who are good at neither) the reportage is somewhere between "hyperbole" and "completely backwards". But this is concerning, at least.

[magical thyme]

68. so the race is on. Teixobactin was discovered roughly a year ago.

The company that discovered it was founded in 2003 after its founders developed the ichip while in university. So it took a good 12 years to find this (and possibly a couple other) potentially useful bacteria using their method, and it will be another 5+ years before it comes to market.

Any new bacteria will be some number of years from discovery and use.

The mcr-1 gene has already been found in pigs, chickens and humans across the Chinese provinces investigated. Contrary to what the OP article says, there is evidence it has already spread to Laos and Malaysia.
http://www.dw.com/en/scientists-discover-new-antibiotic-resistant-gene-mcr-1-in-china/a-18861469

So now all they or somebody needs to do is find a bacteria that produces a molecule that is effective against gram neg bacteria with little to no impact on mammals and develop it into a drug faster than the mcr-1 gene spreads globally.

In the meantime, various and sundry countries ship live animals to China for slaughter and processing, and import the resulting meats back from there.

And colistin is widely used in agriculture.
Worldwide demand for the antibiotic in agriculture is expected to reach almost 12,000 tonnes per year by the end of 2015, rising to 16,500 tonnes by 2021, according to a 2015 report by the QYResearch Medical Research Center.

In Europe, 80 percent of polymixin sales - mainly colistin - are in Spain, Germany and Italy, according to the European Medicines Agency's Surveillance of Veterinary Antimicrobial Consumption (ESVAC) report.
http://www.scientificamerican.com/article/new-superbug-gene-found-in-animals-and-people-in-china/


I still say cook your food thoroughly, wash your hands, utensils, countertops thoroughly, be careful how you handle and store meats before cooking.

[AZ Progressive]

65. Were definitely going to have to pray to the Science and Tech gods to find a solution for this

[randys1]

51. Sounds like a bad time to have an anti science moron

teapartier in charge of Science in the US HOUSE...

[Manifestor_of_Light]

53. Silver works to kill bacteria

Colloidal silver or silver oxide which is tarnish. They make bandages with tarnish in them.

[LiberalElite]

60. Quote:

"Mother Nature always bats last, and she always bats 1,000." - Robert K. Watson

[AZ Progressive]

64. This is the fault of Big Agra. Speeding up evolution to make bacteria super resistent.

Yeah I know this is China but its the fucking industry practices that caused this!