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☆ Our toothbrushes are home to hundreds of new viruses. They could be the future of biotech.
▼ + stars: | 2024-10-11 | by ( ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

A new study found hundreds of unique viruses called bacteriophage on toothbrushes and shower heads. A recent study found hundreds of viruses on samples from toothbrushes and shower heads, including many that have never been seen before, let alone examined. These are not viruses that are going to infect you, these are viruses that are potentially cool," Hartmann said. In the future, phage might be a rich source of biotech innovations like phage therapy, in the same way pharmaceuticals have developed medicines from plants or animals. Advertisement"There are a lot of things waiting to be discovered just under our noses or on our toothbrushes," Hartmann said.

Persons: —, Erica Hartmann, it's, Hartmann, Phages, Wahrman Organizations: Service, Northwestern University, Business, William Paterson University of New Locations: William Paterson University of New Jersey, Microbiomes

☆ Your showerhead and toothbrush are teeming with viruses. But don’t panic – these microbes could save lives
▼ + stars: | 2024-10-09 | by ( Issy Ronald | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +5 min

These viruses, however, are not the kind that will give you the common cold or flu (or worse). It’s amazing how much untapped biodiversity is all around us.”The study identified more than 600 viruses found in the samples taken from showerheads and toothbrushes. And for every bacterium, there’s potentially tens or hundreds or even thousands of viruses that infect it,” Hartmann said, noting that viruses mutate very quickly, too. She hypothesized that a bacterium in your mouth could transfer to your toothbrush, taking its viruses with it – and these could keep evolving on the toothbrush. “Microbes are everywhere all the time … We wouldn’t be able to digest our food or fend off infection if we didn’t have our microbes,” Hartmann said.

Persons: Erica Hartmann, we’ve, ” Hartmann, Bacteriophages, “ There’s, ”, Joe Parker, wasn’t, Hartmann, Parker, toothbrushes, There’s, that’s Organizations: CNN, Northwestern University’s McCormick School of Engineering, Getty, World Health Organization, Innovation Locations: showerheads, Microbiomes, United States, ”

☆ Nearly 40 million people could die from antibiotic-resistant superbug infections by 2050, new study estimates
▼ + stars: | 2024-09-16 | by ( Jacqueline Howard | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +9 min

Antimicrobial resistance happens when pathogens like bacteria and fungi develop the ability to evade the medications used to kill them. A death attributable to antimicrobial resistance was directly caused by it, while a death associated with AMR may have another cause that was exacerbated by the antimicrobial resistance. For this combination – the antibiotic methicillin and the bacteria S. aureus – the number of attributable deaths nearly doubled from 57,200 in 1990 to 130,000 in 2021. The researchers estimated that, in 2050, the number of global deaths attributable to antimicrobial resistance could reach 1.9 million, and those associated with antimicrobial resistance could reach 8.2 million. Strathdee saw firsthand the effects that antimicrobial resistance can have on health when her husband nearly died from a superbug infection.

Persons: ”, Chris Murray, Murray, “, ” Murray, it’s, Samuel Kariuki, Kariuki, Steffanie Strathdee, Strathdee, who’s, It’s, Strathdee’s, Tom Patterson, Patterson, baumannii, ” Strathdee, Dr, Sanjay Gupta Organizations: CNN, World Health Organization, AMR, Institute for Health Metrics, University of Washington, Global, Kenya Medical Research Institute, University of California San Diego School of Medicine, Center, Therapeutics, UC San Diego, CNN Health Locations: South Asia, Latin America, Caribbean, Africa, Kenya, Egypt, Germany

☆ Sealed bottles of tattoo and permanent makeup ink test positive for millions of bacteria, FDA says
▼ + stars: | 2024-07-18 | by ( Sandee Lamotte | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +8 min

CNN —Sealed bottles of tattoo and permanent makeup ink, including some marked as sterile, contained millions of potentially dangerous bacteria, according to new research by the US Food and Drug Administration. Earlier studies have found high levels of bacterial contamination within sealed and sterile bottles of ink. Unfortunately, the study’s findings were not surprising, said John Swierk, an assistant professor of chemistry at Binghamton University, State University of New York, who has studied tattoo ink contamination. For example, using the same gloves to touch a client and the ink bottle is a hazard that can lead to tattoo ink contamination. “Tattoo inks are in the process of being regulated due to the Modernization of Cosmetics Regulation Act (of 2022) but much of that law dealing with tattoo inks has yet to be implemented,” Swierk said.

Persons: ”, Peter, Kim, Linda Katz, ” Katz, Katz, John Swierk, Swierk, Selina Medina, ” Medina, Robert Schooley, “, ’ ”, Schooley, Medina, miodrag ignjatovic, ” Swierk Organizations: CNN, US Food and Drug Administration, National, for Toxicological Research, Cosmetics, US Centers for Disease Control, Binghamton University, State University of New, Alliance, Professional, Manufacturers, FDA, CFU, University of California, Center, Therapeutics, Artists Locations: Jefferson , Arkansas, State University of New York, United States, San Diego, Medina

☆ Antibiotic-resistant germs are killing us. Microscopic viruses may be the answer
▼ + stars: | 2024-01-21 | by ( Sandee Lamotte | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +14 min

Last year doctors offered to treat Horton’s infection with one of nature’s oldest predators — tiny tripod-looking viruses called phages designed to find, attack and gobble up bacteria. SCIEPRO/Science Photo Library/Getty ImagesThe microscopic creatures have saved the lives of patients dying from superbug infections and are being used in clinical trials as a potential solution to the growing problem of antibiotic resistance. Would the bacteria from her ear help scientists find phages that would treat the eye infections as well? By the following January, the CDC said at least 50 patients in 11 states had developed superbug infections after using preservative‐free artificial tears. It was a qualified success: The antibiotic-resistant bacteria in five patients were eradicated, while several more patients showed improvements.

Persons: Cynthia Horton’s earaches, “, ”, Dwayne Roach, Eager, Horton, Maroya Walters, ” Walters, Tom Patterson, Steffanie, Paul Turner, “ Iraqibacter, Patterson, Strathdee, Tom, ” Strathdee, Tom Patterson's, Rather, Anthony Maresso, ” Maresso, “ It’s, ” Roach, phages, Elizabeth Villa, Jumbo phages, Robert “ Chip ”, ” Schooley, Juliette Robert, Haytham, REA, CDC’s Walters Organizations: CNN, San Diego State University ., US Centers for Disease Control, Center, Therapeutics, UC San Diego School of Medicine, UC, Diego’s, CDC, Yale University, Yale School of Medicine, UC San, UC San Diego, ”, San Diego, Baylor College of Medicine, Eliava Institute Locations: United States, North America, Pennsylvania, IPATH, Iraq, New Haven , Connecticut, UC San Diego, Turner’s Yale, San, San Diego State, Texas, Houston, Russia, Georgia, Tbilisi , Georgia

☆ A Reason to Cheer for Cells and the Viruses That Feed on Them
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-15 | by ( Alex Johnson | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +2 min

A mysterious entity had left holes in one of his thin films of bacteria. He took samples from within the holes, spread them on other plates of bacteria and got the same effect. The culprit, it would later turn out, was a phage, a kind of virus that “eats” bacteria. Ireland, an award-winning science journalist, approaches the subject of his first book with curiosity and passion, delivering a deft narrative that is rich and approachable. In the hands of d’Herelle and others, the phage became a potent tool in the fight against cholera.

Persons: Tom Ireland, Alfonso Martinez Arias, Felix d’Herelle, d’Herelle, Tom Ireland’s “ Organizations: Belgian Locations: French, Canadian, Mexico, Ireland, Europe, America

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