As bacteria continue to grow more resistant to a wide range of antibiotics, doctors are searching furiously for better ways to kill infectious microbes. Enter hydroxyurea. Researchers at MIT and Boston University have discovered that hydroxyurea, normally a drug prescribed for sickle-cell anemia or psoriasis, also causes bacteria to create their own poisons and kill themselves.
In all cases, hydroxyurea prevents DNA transcription. When used to treat psoriasis or sickle-cell anemia, hydroxyurea simply slows down the production of sick cells. But when used against a bacterium, the cessation of DNA transcription begins a chain reaction that ends with the bacterium producing hydroxyl free radicals. Those free radical are like molecular buzz saws, and they quickly chop the bacterium apart from the inside out.
In fact, many antibiotics currently in use also kill bacteria by inducing hydroxyl free radical production, but hydroxyurea does so in a totally novel way. Thus, no bacteria on Earth has evolved any resistance to it. That lack of resistances means hydroxyurea can serve either as an antibiotic on its own, or as a helper to other, more widely resisted, antibiotics.And with multiple-drug-resistant bacteria becoming a bigger and bigger problem, any help is welcome.
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Science is reinventing play, from extreme sports to gamification to ridiculous roller coasters to the playgrounds of tomorrow, and this issue is chock full of fun. Also, on a less fun note: Did global warming destroy my hometown?
from montreal, quebec
How mutch?
I'd go for 10,000 a pop. Maybe less
from Ojai, California
Is this going to kill all the helpful bacteria you need, too? Or just one targeted species?
This isn't going to work for every strain of bacteria. All we need are nanobots to go in and patrol our bodies for us.
STOP SHARIA LAW!!!! STOP ISLAM BEFORE IT SENDS US BACK INTO THE DARK AGES!!!!
It does work for most strains of bacteria, yes it kills the bad ones too.
Well what happens when the bacteria die they go threw are digestive system if the poison they make dos not make you sick and cause an allergic reaction it might cause the bacteria will pile up then causing inflammation and i don't want to die like gorge martin and on a toilet. a way to keep your self from getting infected by most viruses and bacterium is to eat fruits like cranberry's so the bacteria cant stick to the walls of your digestive system or your veins and artery's.
I am curious at what point we create our own demise from antibacterial products. Given that our bodies operate in many of the same ways. Also, in my Bio205 class they were saying that they think the energy powerhouse of our cells the mitochondria may be a bacteria that our bodies hijacked and took over in a symbiotic type of relationship. If that is true you have to wonder at what point do we cross the line and kill our energy factories?
wow thats good news...
Do they have one of these viruses out there for liberals?