Doug Gordon
Potential
Edit
| Embed Video: |  |
|
If there is a better way to defeat viruses than this, I find it hard to believe. The idea of using the “lazy” version of a virus to destroy that virus seems too simple to be real. Genetic researchers from Texas Tech University have found that when they inject these “lazy” bacteria into a more virulent strain, they cause the viruses to become less damaging. Since the lazy bacteria do nothing but replicate, they breed out the more virulent bacteria. This is a very Sun Tzu method of disease fighting and I love it.  To test their hypothesis, Rumbaugh's team engineered a mutant strain of Pseudomonas aeruginosa, a common inflammation-causing bug that infects cuts and open wounds, and is especially troublesome for burn victims and people with AIDS. Though it usually causes dermatitis, P. aeruginosa can be fatal if infection spreads internally.
The researchers knocked out the genes responsible for signaling, turning their bugs into cheaters. Then they added the mutants to mice with burn wounds infected by normal P. aeuruginosa. The engineered strain flourished and soon dominated the bacterial population. More than half of treated mice survived, compared to just one-quarter of an untreated control group.
(blog.wired)References: blog.wired Filed In: |
;showNav();changeOption('login');)
Log In ;changeOption('guest');)
Guest
Facebook ;changeOption('twitter');)
Twitter 
