TimeToScoot
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Ever wondered why doctors increase the dosage of your medicine even when the nature of infection is the same as the previous time? This happens because infection-causing bacteria have mechanisms that resist drugs, just like our bodies resist bacteria. However, these bacteria have today become so resistant to antibiotics that even increased dosage is having little effect. While the international research community has pondered over many options to overcome this, a team of Bangalore-based scientists has developed a novel way to attack these bacteria, which gives the organisms little chance of developing resistance.
"The alarming growth of antibiotic resistant superbugs (bacteria) has become a major global health hazard... Our research, the findings of which is awaiting an international patent, breaks the bacteria in a non-traditional way, affecting their ability to adapt or develop resistance," said Dr Jayanta Haldar, who along with his team of three from the Jawaharlal Nehru Centre for Advanced Scientific Research has developed the antibiotic. The other three scientists are Venkateswarlu Yarlagadda, Padma Akkapeddi and Goutham B Manjunath. "Antibiotics today attack different processes of bacteria. And, due to reckless overuse of drugs, bacteria, through mutations, develop ways of resisting the medicines ... Our antibiotic attacks the cell membrane, the Achilles' heel of bacteria, killing their ability to adapt," Haldar said.
He said: "Take for instance, an office, where electricity, telephones, furniture and computers are required for effective functioning. However, if any one of them is damaged, it can be repaired. This is exactly how bacteria can repair the damage caused by currently available antibiotics. On the other hand, if the building is demolished, then the complete functioning of the office is stalled as it cannot be repaired easily. Our antibiotic works by destroying the bacterial cell membrane, which is difficult to repair."Stressing their invention will hardly add any extra cost to the existing treatment, he said: "The most challenging part was to make sure our antibiotic is non-toxic to humans." The team has already patented the molecule that targets the bacterial cell membrane directly. Also, a patient would not require multiple dosage of the same medicine as this invention leads to more effective drugs.
The team has filed for patent for its invention in India, US, Australia, Canada, Europe and South Korea, which will automatically make the news of the invention available globally. "Now, we are on the look-out for pharmaceutical industries that would like to hold clinical trials and market the drug," Dr Jayanta Haldar said. The team has already tested the formulation in its lab. Tests on animals (mice) have also proved successful.
Bangalore scientists break bacteria's resistance to antibiotics - The Times of India
"The alarming growth of antibiotic resistant superbugs (bacteria) has become a major global health hazard... Our research, the findings of which is awaiting an international patent, breaks the bacteria in a non-traditional way, affecting their ability to adapt or develop resistance," said Dr Jayanta Haldar, who along with his team of three from the Jawaharlal Nehru Centre for Advanced Scientific Research has developed the antibiotic. The other three scientists are Venkateswarlu Yarlagadda, Padma Akkapeddi and Goutham B Manjunath. "Antibiotics today attack different processes of bacteria. And, due to reckless overuse of drugs, bacteria, through mutations, develop ways of resisting the medicines ... Our antibiotic attacks the cell membrane, the Achilles' heel of bacteria, killing their ability to adapt," Haldar said.
He said: "Take for instance, an office, where electricity, telephones, furniture and computers are required for effective functioning. However, if any one of them is damaged, it can be repaired. This is exactly how bacteria can repair the damage caused by currently available antibiotics. On the other hand, if the building is demolished, then the complete functioning of the office is stalled as it cannot be repaired easily. Our antibiotic works by destroying the bacterial cell membrane, which is difficult to repair."Stressing their invention will hardly add any extra cost to the existing treatment, he said: "The most challenging part was to make sure our antibiotic is non-toxic to humans." The team has already patented the molecule that targets the bacterial cell membrane directly. Also, a patient would not require multiple dosage of the same medicine as this invention leads to more effective drugs.
The team has filed for patent for its invention in India, US, Australia, Canada, Europe and South Korea, which will automatically make the news of the invention available globally. "Now, we are on the look-out for pharmaceutical industries that would like to hold clinical trials and market the drug," Dr Jayanta Haldar said. The team has already tested the formulation in its lab. Tests on animals (mice) have also proved successful.
Bangalore scientists break bacteria's resistance to antibiotics - The Times of India
