DailyDirt: Antibiotic Resistance Is (Not) Futile...

from the urls-we-dig-up dept

With the news that a "superbug" resistant to an antibiotic of last resort was found in the US, there's a bit of concern that medicine could regress significantly in the face of uncontrollable bacteria. We've had antibiotic drugs for about 70 years now, and we've grown accustomed to the effectiveness of these drugs. Hopefully, we can stay ahead of drug-resistant microbes with new pharmaceuticals or phage therapy.

• Antibiotic resistance sounds like a new problem, but ancient microbes have been found with genes that make them resistant to modern drugs. DNA from 30,000-year-old permafrost shows that there were "superbugs" well before we even discovered antibiotic compounds. [url]
• Waste water from various sources can obviously cause antibiotic-resistant bacteria to emerge. Heavy metal contamination in waste water may be a contributing factor, not just waste from residential sewage systems. [url]
• If you're looking for a hand sanitizer that doesn't irritate your skin, try some quaternary ammonium salt formulations. Sure, you could use alcohol-based lotions or diluted chlorine solutions, but those ingredients can dry out your skin if you use them a lot. [url]

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Filed Under: antibiotics, bacteria, bacteriophages, biotech, drug discovery, health, medicine, microbes, phage therapy, pharmaceuticals, superbugs

DailyDirt: Strange Forms Of Life...

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Nature has plenty of surprises left for us. Life exists in some extreme environments that you wouldn't think anything would survive, but somehow little creatures are still thriving in some of the coldest, darkest, most acidic, hottest and just unusual places. Life just needs to be able to feed on something -- light, sugar, electricity. Here are just a few bizarre discoveries in biology.

• Mitochondria are commonly called the "powerhouses" of complex living cells, and biologists have been looking for years to see if there are any examples of eukaryotes that do not have mitochondria. They've finally found an example -- in the gut of a pet chinchilla -- but it is NOT the missing link of eukaryotic evolution. This microbe's ancestors are known to have mitochondria, so this particular organism somehow lost its mitochondria and managed to survive using other non-mitochondrial mechanisms. [url]
• There are a few photosynthetic animals in nature. And if you're really into transhumanism or biohacking, maybe humans can engineer a symbiotic way to metabolize sunlight and forget about eating or breathing. [url]
• Some "electric bacteria" can feed directly on electrons flowing from an electrode. These "electricity breathers" in sediment have been found in vastly different locations in California, and researchers have identified at least 8 different kinds of electric bacteria. [url]

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Filed Under: animals, bacteria, biohacking, biology, biotech, electric bacteria, extremophiles, life, microbes, mitochondria, photosynthesis

DailyDirt: There's So Much We Don't Know About Life...

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Biology defies simple categorization -- even though some think of the field of biology as glorified taxidermy. We even have a difficult time defining what life is. (Are viruses alive?) Fundamental questions about how life began and how life even continues are still elusive. We've just started to scratch the surface of collecting data that might help us understand more about ourselves and the ecosystem we live in. Here are just a few links on genomes and biodiversity that lead to more questions than answers.

• What is the 'hypothetical minimal genome' required for a living organism to exist? Researchers thought that maybe a living cell could get away with 256 genes, but it didn't produce a viable living organism. So after a some trial & error iterations of editing simple bacterial genomes, it looks like 473 genes might be the smallest genome that life needs... to be called life. (And we still don't know what a significant fraction of these genes do.) [url]
• Genome analysis is becoming more practical to do on a large scale, and for just $25,000, you could have your own personal genome -- plus a battery of other medical tests that may or may not provide any meaningful results. Collecting all this health data, though, could start to provide some interesting correlations, and the company offering the service is named Human Longevity -- so there might be something in aggregating this information that might help people live longer lives. [url]
• How many mammalian viruses exist? At least 320,000? And there's probably no limit to the number. It's important to note that not all viruses cause disease -- bacteriophages keep us healthy by killing off bacteria that do cause diseases. So we don't want to eradicate viruses, but it would be nice to know more about them. [url]

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Filed Under: bacteria, bacteriophages, biology, dna, genes, genome, hypothetical minimal genome, longevity, viruses

DailyDirt: When You Hear Hoofbeats, Think Horses -- Not Zebras (Usually)

from the urls-we-dig-up dept

There are plenty of fictional medical dramas where doctors miraculously discover a wrong diagnosis that leads to a recovery or a cure or... a highly suspicious murder suspect. Some of these stories are based in reality, but they aren't filed under suspense or drama for no good reason. For all the budding script (not of the computer code variety) writers out there, here are just a few medical curiosities that might come in handy.

• Melioidosis is a disease that is usually restricted to southeastern Asia and Australia. However, the bacterium, Burkholderia pseudomallei, that causes this disease is apparently spreading from 45 known countries to 34 more nations with tropical climates. The germ can kill a person in under 48 hours and can survive in distilled water for decades. [url]
• The headline-grabbing Ebola outbreak has been officially declared as over. The virus still lurks in survivors, though, and there have already been some cases of flare-ups from patients who had recovered. [url]
• After Hurricane Katrina struck in 2005, a strange rise in symptoms related to Parkinson's Disease were reported. A volatile compound released by mold, 1-octen-3-ol (aka mushroom alcohol), seems to be the culprit. The extensive amount of water damage caused an incredible amount of mold to grow, releasing this environmental toxin. [url]

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Filed Under: bacteria, burkholderia pseudomallei, diagnosis, disease, ebola, environmental toxin, medicine, melioidosis, mold, parkinson's disease, virus

DailyDirt: Healthier Rice... From Science

from the urls-we-dig-up dept

Billions of people around the world eat rice. So if rice can be made to be more healthy, the benefits could be globally significant. Sure, there are plenty of folks trying to genetically engineer better rice (eg. Golden Rice), but if you don't like GMOs for whatever reason, you're not out of luck. There are a few things that might help improve rice without messing around with rice DNA.

• Cooking low calorie rice can be accomplished by adding coconut oil to the water used to cook rice. The coconut oil prevents some of the resistant starches in rice from becoming digestible starches, thereby reducing the calories available to whoever eats it. [url]
• Arsenic content in rice can be reduced by relatively simple rinsing and cooking techniques. A coffee-pot percolation method for cooking rice could eliminate more than half of the arsenic in contaminated rice. [url]
• Studying the microbiome of rice could help reduce the arsenic levels in the grain and plant. Bacteria in the soil has been found to lessen the uptake of arsenic significantly -- potentially increasing food production productivity and improving food safety and chronic health conditions for the people who eat this staple daily. [url]

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Filed Under: arsenic, bacteria, cooking, food, gmo, golden rice, health, how-to, low calorie, microbiome, rice, starches

DailyDirt: Potent Potable Water

from the urls-we-dig-up dept

Water that's safe to drink is a necessity for civilization that most Americans take for granted. When drought or natural disasters cut off safe drinking supplies, that's when we suddenly realize how precious potable water really is. Water is almost everywhere on our little planet, but it's not always safe to drink -- and the supplies of safe drinking water may be at risk of contamination from a variety of industrial processes. Here are just a few more links on our drinking water supplies.

• Los Angeles has deployed millions of 'shade balls' to protect reservoir water from evaporating. These 4-in black plastic balls float on the water and block UV light -- and cost 36 cents each. LA is saving millions by using this method instead of more expensive tarps or other floating covers. [url]
• The crushed seeds of the Moringa oleifera tree were used in ancient Egypt to purify water, and scientists have figured out how the seeds work. Proteins from the seeds make bacteria clump together and die. Presumably, these proteins can be grown and used as a natural disinfecting agent for drinking water, but more research on its effectiveness will likely need to be done. [url]
• The EPA's drinking water standards are about 50 years old, so some folks are calling for some updates. Chemical spills and pharmaceutical content in drinking water sources are concerns that should be addressed at a national level, but it might take significant effort to create new water standards. [url]

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Filed Under: bacteria, contamination, drinking water, health, moringa oleifera, potable water, shade balls, water

DailyDirt: Artificial Intelligence Is Here To Help Us...

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Computers are getting smarter all the time. Even though science fiction sometimes tends to paint artificial intelligence in an evil light, humans are building these intelligent machines -- and presumably, we'll have some control over how dangerous they'll ultimately become (but maybe not). People are building artificial brains without really knowing how brains work, but that's how we're learning. Maybe we should be breeding hyper-intelligent parrots, instead?

• Virginia Tech scientists have a mathematical model for using bacteria to function as a robot brain. Complex emergent behaviors can arise from bacteria-bots and create interesting cyborgs with capabilities that might be attributed to higher order animals. [url]
• Computerphobia doesn't seem like a common term or actual fear these days, but in the 1980s, when computers were much less familiar, it wasn't crazy to see people approach PCs with anxiety. Computers are just waiting for us to let our guard down before they attack us.... [url]
• RoboBrain is an online artificial intelligence that any robot might tap into for some cognitive help. Robots might develop more quickly if they can help each other learn via 'cloud robotics' and distributed processing/intelligence resources. Hello, Skynet! [url]

After you've finished checking out those links, take a look at our Daily Deals for cool gadgets and other awesome stuff.

Filed Under: ai, artificial intelligence, bacteria, brains, cloud robotics, cognitive computing, computerphobia, cyborgs, emergent behavior, robobrain, skynet, terminators

DailyDirt: Life Finds A Way...

from the urls-we-dig-up dept

Genetically modified organisms (GMOs) are more common than many people think. Diabetics nowadays who rely on insulin shots aren't getting their medicine from pigs/cows or other mammals -- and haven't been for decades. Modern sources of insulin come from vats of genetically engineered bacteria. So what about GMOs and GMO-produced products in our food supply? Most Americans have definitely eaten some GMO food, but is there any end to GMO experimentation in the wild now?

• In France, a lamb that was genetically modified with jellyfish DNA got into the retail food chain -- and some people have probably eaten it without knowing. This wasn't an accident, apparently. A disgruntled worker (and possibly some co-workers) purposely sold a lab animal to a slaughterhouse. It's probably not going to kill anyone, but this is how the dinosaurs get out of Jurassic Park World, IRL. [url]
• In 2013, the USDA's Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) found genetically engineered wheat in Oregon -- where it shouldn't have been. Since then, there has been some concern that more GMO wheat is growing in the wild without anyone knowing.... [url]
• You can thank GMOs for making billions of pounds of cheese sold today (ie. most of the cheese you see in US stores). Fermentation-Produced Chymosin (FPC) is used instead of a calf stomach extract -- and it just wouldn't be possible to make as much cheese as we do without FPC (unless the veal industry suddenly exploded). [url]

After you've finished checking out those links, take a look at our Daily Deals for cool gadgets and other awesome stuff.

Filed Under: bacteria, biotech, cheese, dna, food, fpc, gmo, insulin, jurassic park, usda, veal, wheat

DailyDirt: Who Needs Dinosaurs Anyway?

from the urls-we-dig-up dept

Jurassic World raked in over a billion bucks in less than 2 weeks by digitally re-creating some enormous (and sometimes fictional) dinosaurs. A few folks are actually working on re-animating prehistoric animals and other ancient organisms, but do we really need to bring these species back? Perhaps we should work on preventing an artificially-created extinction event of our own before we try to reverse the effects of the last one?

• An impact event that left a 110-mile-wide crater off the Yucatan coast of Mexico is most likely the cause of the mass extinction of the dinosaurs. That impact happened 66 million years ago, and it took a couple of million years for the ocean biosphere to recover its diversity afterwards. [url]
• A mass extinction occurring over 200 million years ago might have had a few contributing factors -- perhaps bacteria (aka methanosarcina) produced a world-changing amount of methane? Volcanoes might have also been a contributing factor, too, but we may never really be certain what actually happened that many millions of years ago. [url]
• We're headed for another mass extinction event, and the 'Sixth Great Extinction' is probably already underway. Species are dying off at a rate that's over 100 times higher than 'normal' -- are we only concerned when the next 'great extinction' also includes humans? [url]

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Filed Under: bacteria, biosphere, dinosaurs, ecosystem, extinction, global climate change, methane, methanosarcina, prehistoric animals, sixth great extinction, species, volcanoes

DailyDirt: It's The Yeast I Can Do...

from the urls-we-dig-up dept

Genetically engineered organisms already produce some highly valuable products for us. Insulin used to be harvested from the pancreases of pigs, but now stockpiles of human insulin can be made using a fermentation process with bio-engineered bacteria. Various kinds of yeast can produce different kinds of breads and beers, but if we can modify these tiny organisms at will, yeast could produce an incredibly wide variety of products. Just check out these links on the versatility of yeast.

• The next version of Breaking Bad won't need a desperate chemistry teacher, but maybe a biology undergrad and some genetically modified yeast. Brewing all kinds of pharmaceutical drugs with bioengineered yeast could make drug synthesis remarkably inexpensive... and hard to police. [url]
• Researchers have created a yeast that is sensitive to magnetic fields, and this work could lead to other kinds of organisms engineered to have magnetic sensing abilities. Magnetic yeast cells can grow into arbitrary patterns shaped by external magnetic fields, and this ability could be employed in advanced bio-engineering processes. [url]
• Under current FDA rules, if a flavor chemical comes from a plant, animal, or edible yeast, then it can be labeled "natural" on food packaging. How natural would flavors really be if they were produced by genetically engineered yeast? Designer yeasts can produce flavors such as vanilla, saffron, and grapefruit -- and more flavors and fragrances are being developed. [url]

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Filed Under: bacteria, chemistry, drugs, flavors, gmo, insulin, life, magnetic yeast, microbiology, pharmaceuticals, yeast