Travis
North
Biology
1610
Antibiotics: Talking, not Fighting
Although not as controversial as vaccines, many
adult Americans have some preliminary knowledge of antibiotics and have likely
formed their own opinion as to the benefits or detriments from using or
misusing antibiotics. I have benefited from antibiotics personally and value
them when I'm sick; however, in preparing for this assignment, I realized my
knowledge of antibiotics was somewhat superficial, as I did not have a in depth
understanding of how antibiotics interact with our anatomy. As a result, I was intrigued by the
2009 Scientific American Article, "Antibiotics, These wonder-drug
molecules might have evolved to help bacteria speak with their neighbors, not
kill them" by Jessica Snyder Sachs.[1]
First, it is important to understand where
antibiotics come from. The majority of antibiotics used in modern medicine are
derived from soil bacteria. The standard thinking in microbiology is that dirt
microbes contributed to the evolution of antibiotic compounds into "lethal
weapons" which could be used on each other as the microbes fought over
food and territory. These microbes
are much smarter than people realize.
A common misconception about antibiotics is
that it kills the "bad" bacteria within your body. Most people seem
to think antibiotics go to the bacteria and kill it. Most people don’t know how
it is done. For more than fifteen years microbiologist, Dr. Julian Davies of
the University of British Columbia, has argued otherwise. His research supports
the proposition that antibiotics are “talking, not fighting,” Dr. Davies is well
respected within the microbiology community. He claims that bacteria use most
of the small molecules we call antibiotics to communicate. As evidence, he
looks to nature, and argues that because soil bacteria secretes antibiotics at
trace levels, levels which are so insignificant that they do not adversely
affect, let alone kill their microbial neighbors, the soil bacteria must be
aware of their neighbor plants presence. "Only when we use them at
unnaturally high concentrations do we find that these chemicals inhibit
bacteria."
During his research, Dr. Davies identified a
way to observe the communication between bacteria as they used antibiotics. Since
then, Dr. Davies staff has been "eavesdropping on the flurry of gene
activity in bacteria exposed to low-dose antibiotics." The researchers
equip their bacteria with glow-in-the-dark lux genes that provide a fluorescent
signal when other linked genes are active. The researchers then watched those
genetic “switchboards” light up in a chorus of responses to antibiotic exposure.
These results led Dr. Davies to ascertain that a gram of soil contains more
than 1,000 different types of bacteria. He proposes that many antibiotics may
help coordinate bacterial activities. Dr. Davies concluded, “They’re all
thriving there together and clearly not killing one another.”
Dr. Davies’s theory implies both good and bad
news for the world of antibiotics and its application within the medical
community. Observing the communication within bacterial communities may lead
pharmaceutical companies to increase the amount of antibiotics communicating
with a specific microbe, increasing its potential to kill. Regardless, understanding how bacteria
use antibiotics to communicate could to more efficient medications.
[1]https://www.scientificamerican.com/index.cfm/_api/render/file/?method=attachment&fileID=5B5836C3-6630-45C9-A6454224F0CD5124
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