Comments on: Fighting bacteria with bacteria – common nose germ provides new weapon against superbugs

By: Deovrat Begde

Deovrat Begde — Tue, 20 Jul 2010 10:58:56 +0000

Seems an intresting strategy from the bacterias’ (S. epidermidis) perspective to increase its own chances of survival and minimise the competition from its fellow cousin…with this result however, it could also be thought of as to use some other serine proteases to treat the infection…and not necessarily Esp.. may be…. just a thought!!!

By: Sam Ghosh

Sam Ghosh — Thu, 27 May 2010 07:08:20 +0000

I recollect one interesting incident. Many years ago I had a painful summer boil on my chin. A tribal labourer working in my dad’s company was friendly with me. When he saw the inflamed swelling on my chin, he suggested to apply my nasal secretions on that. The idea was naturally repulsive and I almost snubbed him for suggesting this. But he tried to convince me and seemed quite serious. Now, after reading this article, it seems that he had a point.

By: Kevin

Kevin — Sat, 22 May 2010 16:06:27 +0000

“Obviously, there’s a lot of work to do to turn Esp into a viable treatment…” If you just turn Esp into ESP this becomes a very entertaining phrase.

By: complex field

complex field — Sat, 22 May 2010 13:33:13 +0000

As to mutation issues in S. epidermidis, it would seem that we may not have to use the bacterium itself, but the protein it secretes. I wish I were young again so I could go into biology. Aside from the DNA Helicase joke, of course.

By: Ed Yong

Ed Yong — Fri, 21 May 2010 20:00:08 +0000

Amphiox is spot on. I think you could make a very strong argument that this experiment has already been done over the last several million years.

By: amphiox

amphiox — Fri, 21 May 2010 19:34:00 +0000

We need more research to make sure that S. epidermidis doesn’t develop a mutation that would make it even worse that what we’re trying to cure.

We can take some comfort from the fact that S. epidermidis has been living in symbiosis with us for millions of years now, and in all that time this has not happened. (Or has it? Maybe that’s where S. aureus came from originally? Could have been the other way around, too, of course, or both descended from an earlier ancestor that’s no longer around).

Probably the most dangerous and likely scenario is if S. epidermidis picked up virulence genes from S. aureus via lateral gene transfer. But again, we can take some comfort in the knowledge that these two strains have lived in close proximity to one another for millions of years and this has not apparently happened.

By: Chris M.

Chris M. — Wed, 19 May 2010 18:40:44 +0000

Fascinating! We may have started out antibiotics with fungus, but hey, other bacteria are the ones really competing with each other more directly! The specific targeting that this may require could also likely reduce the likelihood of widespread resistance, which would be a major benefit.

(I’m suddenly wondering whether wild populations of penicillin have dropped off as antibiotic resistance spreads)

By: southlakesmom

southlakesmom — Wed, 19 May 2010 17:43:44 +0000

Did he swap or swab those noses? Hmmm.

Seriously though, I’m with Angela. This is very promising. I have a friend who has been battling MRSA and it’s really scary stuff.

By: Angela

Angela — Wed, 19 May 2010 17:28:12 +0000

This is very exciting! We need more research to make sure that S. epidermidis doesn’t develop a mutation that would make it even worse that what we’re trying to cure. But this could be a great tool in our fight against antibiotic resistance. Thanks for drawing attention to this!