Ancient cave discovery unlocks secrets of superbugs
SHERYL UBELACKER
The Canadian Press
Published Thursday, Apr. 12, 2012 2:48PM EDT
Last updated Thursday, Apr. 12, 2012 3:18PM EDT
Deep inside a cave in New Mexico, researchers have made a startling discovery – bacteria that are resistant to antibiotics, yet have been pristinely isolated from human contact for more than four million years.
Bacterial resistance to antibiotics – the infection-killing wonder drugs that began with mass-produced penicillin in the early 1940s – was long thought to have arisen because of wholesale and indiscriminate use of the medications to treat disease in both people and animals.
Over time, more and more disease-causing bacteria, including the superbug MRSA, are becoming immune to most antibiotics now in use. And the growing number of bugs mutating to dodge the killing effects of the drugs has researchers and pharmaceutical companies scrambling to find new agents.
But the discovery of species of naturally resistant bacteria in the Lechuguilla Cave, in Carlsbad Caverns National Park, represents a major leap in the understanding of resistance threatening the treatment of infectious diseases around the world.
More:
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/life/health/new-health/health-news/ancient-cave-discovery-unlocks-secrets-of-superbugs/article2400159/
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