Is Dirt Dirty If It Is Healthy?

There is an unimaginable number of species of bacteria that roam the world we live in and as a result an overwhelming amount of information which could be extracted from these organisms if we knew how. In an extended range of recent research The Rockefeller University has excerpted useful bacteria for medical purposes from the most abundant resource in the world – dirt. It is estimated that there are 10, 000 species of bacteria in a small amount of dirt. These bacteria have useful genetic structures which can be employed as antibiotics. Due to its properties which have yet to be fully examined these pending antibiotics maybe the answer to those who have developed a drug resistance to traditional prescription medications. The problems in the past have propped up when these bacteria were encouraged to grow under laboratory conditions, which failed. Even less could be separated from the inconsequential particles which do not hold DNA. This new discovery also has the potential to resurrect interest in environmental investigation.

The genetic code that has been highlighted by this breakthrough in science has already allowed the essential elements of the bacteria’s parent substance with a sway of enzymes through cloning to manufacture two possible antibiotics. According to a clinic in Rochester, Minnesota, the issue of the public gaining immunity against medicines lead to a rise in infectious disease deaths by 58% during 1980 and 1992, therefore it is a great advancement to procure new drugs.
It was Sean Brady and Jacob Banik who discovered this revelation. The procedure involved heating soil samples and incorporating detergent. The detergent as an emulsifier penetrates and destroys the bonds formed between the dirt particles caused by an oil film. From this process the DNA material was clear to scan and the genetic sequence read. This sequence displayed relative characteristics to pre-existing antibodies but was a variant with its own new properties, is substance was named OxyC.

This study has inconceivable medical possibilities in relation to antibiotics and their usefulness in breaching the preconceived notions concerned with the limited boarders of the drug resistance issue. Not only has bacteria been used in antibiotics but also in anticancer agents which could prove fruitful as cancer research becomes more and more pronounced.

By L.B (42045962)

Resources: 1. Science News, 12 Nov 2008, “New Path Found to Antibiotics in Dirt”, [URL: http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/11/081111211446.htm], Accessed: (23/3/09)
2. Science News, 24 Jan 2006, “Researchers use dirt to stay one step ahead of antibiotic resistance”, [URL: http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2006/01/060119232956.htm], Accessed: (23/3/09)
3. Answers.com, 2009, “Vancomycin” [URL: http://www.answers.com/topic/vancomycin ], Accessed: (23/3/09)