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Antibiotic-resistant Staphylococcus aureus bacteria (yellow) killing and escaping from a human white blood cell.

Photograph by NIAID

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Superbugs Catastrophe

By Arjuwan Lakkdawala

Ink in the Internet

Antibiotic-resistant bacteria are expected to claim more human lives than cancer by 2050.

Situation is only short of being declared a health emergency.

Almost 10 million people die each year in the world from cancer according to www.ourworldindata.org

The factors contributing to the rise in superbugs are many by which mutations and ARGs occur resulting in antibiotic-resistant bacteria.

Antibiotics overuse and misuse are among the factors and so is hospital hygiene.

ARGs (antibiotic-resistant genes) through Horizontal Gene Transfer can occur in three main ways: Transformation - in which the bacteria picks up genetic material from the environment.

Transduction - in which bacteriophages transfer genes between bacteria when bacteria DNA gets incorporated in the genomes of the virus. This can happen during the Lytic or Lysogenic Cycles which are reproduction processes of bacteriophages.

Conjugation - in which genes are transfered between bacteria from a donor bacterium to a recipient bacterium on direct contact.

In laboratory tests transduction was observed more frequent to occur than in nature. This may or may not be a reassuring indication. Because of the abundance of phages and bacteria generally in hospitals. More studies and observation is required in this matter to have a better understanding or estimate.

Bacteriophages or phages for short, are viruses that have specifically evolved to attack bacteria and are harmless to humans. They were in fact used to treat bacterial infections before the discovery of antibiotics.

Microbiologist Felix d'Herelle in 1917 at the Institute Pasteur in Paris, published a paper in which the lysing of bacteria was described "by an invisible microbe he named Bacteriophage."

The first recorded therapeutic use of phages was in 1919.

Phage Therapy is being explored by scientists again because of the superbug catastrophe. The increase in antibiotic-resistant bacteria is so severe that if no solution is found humanity will go back to the days of dying from the simplest of infections.

Phages have two studied functions of reproduction. One is highly in favour of elimination of bacteria which is used in phage therapy. It is the lytic cycle: the phage attaches to any of its specific target range of bacteriam and injects its DNA into it, eventually the phages multiply in the bacterium killing it.

To use this process as phage therapy it is required to identify the phages that can attack the specific bacterial infection. Since each type of phage can only attack a range of bacteria but not all bacteria.

The sides effects are not known of this treatment if there are any. What is known so far is that the phages used in the therapy should be eliminated from the human body when there is no bacterial infection host cells anymore.

However, phages can also be a factor that contribute to bacteria getting ARGs by the lytic or the lysogenic cycle in which the phage injects its DNA into the bacterium but instead of multiplying immediately the phages are reproduced in the cell devision process of the bacterium. However, here too the phages eventually kill the bacteria cell and burst from it to infect more bacteria cells.

Bacteria can also become superbugs due to natural mutations during cell division.

Phages are the most abundant entities on earth, outnumbering all living organisms including bacteria. And have been actively evolving for billions of years.

It is suspected they might be the workers that drive evolution in species.

I interviewed some nurses who said another problem with the treatment of bacterial infections is the practise of prescribing strong antibiotics from the start. The problem with this is that if the bacteria becomes resistant there is no higher antibiotic to administer said the nurses.

Adam Hersh, M.D, Ph.D. an expert in infectious diseases writes in an article on the University of Utah website.

"When US doctors prescribe antibiotics, 60% of the time it is strong antibiotics (broad spectrum) which can kill multiple kinds of bacteria. According to a study by University of Utah researchers. But more than 25% in such cases it is useless because the infection is from a virus." He says the downside of this can be that the antibiotics kill the "good" bacteria in the body which can lead to more side effects and also contribute to antibiotic-resistant bacteria.

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Transduction is a process by which a virus transfers genetic material from one bacterium to another

The lysogenic cycle is a method by which a virus can replicate its DNA using a host cell. Typically, viruses can undergo two types of DNA re

Bacterial conjugation, also referred to as bacterial sex, is a major horizontal gene transfer mechanism through which DNA is transferred fro

Faced with the crisis of multidrug-resistant bacteria, bacteriophages, viruses that infect and replicate within bacteria, have been reported

Bacteriophages occupy a unique position in biology, representing an absolute majority of all organisms in the biosphere. Because their genom

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The superbugs are beating us at a competition we can’t afford to lose.

According to a recent study published in “The Lancet,” the 1.27 million people killed by antibiotic-resistant bacteria in 2019 exceed the annual toll from either HIV or malaria. Alarming new data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, as well as previous research from The Pew Charitable Trusts and others, indicates that the COVID-19 pandemic has accelerated this threat. By 2050, as many as 10 million people could die each year as a result of antibiotic resistance. And without effective antibiotics, common medical procedures that rely on infection control and prevention measures — such as chemotherapy, cesarean sections, dialysis and many others — could become too dangerous. But the danger isn’t limited to serious infections or wounds: Even simple ones can turn deadly when no adequate treatment is available.

Amidst this looming crisis, the World Health Organization’s most recent analysis reveals a grossly insufficient pipeline of antibiotics in clinical development. We’re simply not developing the types and numbers of new drugs needed to tackle the world’s most alarming bacterial threats, which means that medical professionals and health care providers are quickly running out of options to treat their patients.

The superbugs are beating us at a competition we can’t afford to lose. But proposed legislation can make a significant difference by transforming our nation’s approach to antibiotic research and development.

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Humans are polluting the environment with antibiotic-resistant bacteria, and I'm finding them everywhere

Humans are polluting the environment with antibiotic-resistant bacteria, and I’m finding them everywhere

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Michelle Power, Macquarie University

Many of us are aware of the enormous threat of antibiotic- (or “antimicrobial”) resistant bacteria on human health. But few realise just how pervasive these superbugs are — antimicrobial-resistant bacteria have jumped from humans and are running rampant across wildlife and the environment.

My research is revealing the enormous breadth of…

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