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Science In Action: Antibiotic Discovery

A Petri dish

08/01/2015

Antibiotic Discovery

BBC World Service - Science In Action, Antibiotic Discovery

A new antibiotic that can kill drug-resistant infections has been found

Antibiotic discovery; Fast-changing genes help malaria hide; Fossil fuel reserves; American Astronomical Society Meeting

Antibiotic resistance is a major problem for healthcare.  Now, a potential new class of antibiotics that can kill even drug-resistant infections have been found in microorganisms living in common soil.  The compound represents a new type of antibiotic and researchers say that it may be decades before resistance could emerge.  Science in Action spoke to Professor Kim Lewis from Northeastern University in Massachusetts who was involved in the discovery.  

Fast-Changing Genes Help Malaria Hide
Malaria, which is estimated to kill over 500,000 people a year, is remarkably resilient to attacks from the human immune system.  A recent report shows that this may be because the parasite is able to rapidly reshuffle its own genes within the human body.  This ability makes the development of an effective vaccine against malaria incredibly hard.  Will Hamilton, one of the researchers, watched the malaria parasite divide within human red blood cells in the lab for over a year.  He tells Science in Action that by sequencing the parasite’s genome he was able to see the genetic changes unfold.  

Fossil Fuel Reserves
According to the IPCC, if we want to limit global warming to 2 degrees Celsius, we must limit our consumption and production of fossil fuels.  A new report maps out where current resources of oil, coal and gas are across the world and calculates how much of these we would need to leave in the ground if we are to achieve this 2 degrees Celsius goal.  Dr Christophe McGlade, author of the paper, and Professor Andrew Aplin of Durham University discuss the findings.  

American Astronomical Society Meeting
This week, the American Astronomical Society held its 225th Meeting in Seattle in the United States.  Here, the latest research about our universe is shared among over 3000 astronomers, like the most recent Earth-like exoplanet spotted by Kepler and how to work out the age of stars.  BBC Science Reporter Jonathan Webb updates Science in Action from the conference. 


Presenter: Jack Stewart
Producer:  Estelle Cheuk

(Photo: A petri dish)

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