Turning super bad bugs into benign bugs
Fiona Brinkman, 778.782.5646, brinkman@sfu.ca, (Coquitlam resident)
Morgan Langille, 604.633.2733, mlangill@sfu.ca, (West End resident)
Carol Thorbes, PAMR, 778.782.3035, cthorbes@sfu.ca
Simon Fraser University molecular biologist Fiona Brinkman and one of her graduate students, Morgan Langille, belong to a team of scientists who have shown that tiny bacterial viruses can confer superbug capabilities on bacteria.
Known as phage, the tiny viruses enable bacteria to make us sick. Brinkman notes that most bacteria and phage are not only harmless but are good for the environment and us.
However, new knowledge about phage’s darker side is leading to a greater understanding of how disease-causing bacteria can become more virulent and how we can better control disease outbreaks.
Genome Research has published their study online: http://www.genome.org/
Computer programs developed by Langille enabled the researchers to pinpoint clusters of genes that strengthen a bacterium’s disease-causing abilities. The software detected features of these gene clusters or genomic islands that are distinctly different from the bacteria’s general genomic make-up. These genomic islands proved to be phage.
The bacterial Liverpool Epidemic Strain in this study causes virulent lung infections that are particularly deadly and infectious in children with Cystic Fibrosis, a genetic disease that affects lung function. This strain appears to be epidemic due to capabilities acquired from phage.
“If we can figure out how to help bacteria fight off or shut down phage that infect them and turn them into bad bugs we could potentially save many lives,” says Brinkman. “Targeting the disease-causing gene clusters more specifically with drugs, rather than killing both good and bad bacteria in our bodies with non-specific antibiotic drugs, could also reduce antibiotic resistance. New therapies could convert the bacteria into milder forms, rather than killing them.”
Scientists from the University of Liverpool, the University of British Columbia, Laval University and The Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute contributed to this study.
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