Sep 3rd 2009
From The Economist print edition
A better way to find novel antibiotics
Science Photo Library Wriggle for the camera, please
NEW antibiotics are always welcome. Natural selection means the existing ones are in constant danger that pathogens will evolve resistance to them. But winnowing the few chemicals that have antibiotic effects from the myriad that might do, but don’t, is tedious. So a technique invented recently by Frederick Ausubel of Harvard University and his colleagues, which should help to speed things up, is welcome.
Dr Ausubel’s method, the details of which have just been published in ACS Chemical Biology, employs nematode worms of a species called C. elegans as its sacrificial victims. C. elegans is one of the most intensively studied animals on Earth (it was the first to have its genome read completely). It is a mere millimetre long, and can be mass produced to order, so it is ideal for this sort of work.
Dr Ausubel set out to make an automated system that could infect worms with bacteria, treat them with chemical compounds that might have antibiotic effects, and then record the results. The device he has built starts by laying the worms on a “lawn” of pathogenic bacteria for 15 hours and then mixing them with water to create a sort of worm soup. It then places the infected worms into individual enclosures, using a machine called a particle sorter that is able to drop a precise number of worms (in this case 15) into each of 384 tiny wells arrayed on a single plate. These wells have, in turn, each been pre-loaded with a different chemical that is being tested for possible antibiotic properties. Once in place, the worms are left alone for five days.
Until now, researchers engaging in this sort of work have had to monitor each wellful of worms by eye (assisted by a microscope) to determine whether the inmates were alive or dead. To avoid this time-consuming process, Dr Ausubel and his team exposed their worms to an orange stain once the five days were over. The stain in question enters dead cells easily, but cannot enter living ones. They were thus able to distinguish the quick from the dead by colour, rather than propensity to wriggle.
Moreover, using a stain in this way meant they could automate the process by attaching a camera to the microscope, taking photographs of all 384 wells, and feeding the images into a computer that had been programmed to measure the area of orange in a well and contrast that with the total area occupied by worms. When they compared this automated mechanism for identifying dead worms with manual methods that depended upon human eyes, they found it was every bit as effective.
So far Dr Ausubel and his colleagues have managed to test around 37,000 compounds using their new method, and they have found 28 that have antibiotic properties. Their most exciting discovery is that some of these substances work in completely different ways from existing antibiotics. That means entirely new types of resistance mechanism would have to evolve in order for bacteria to escape their effects.
Mass screening of this sort is not, itself, a new idea in the search for drugs, but extending it so that it can study effects on entire animals rather than just isolated cells should make it even more productive. And worms, unlike, say, white mice, have few sentimental supporters in the outside world.
18 comments:
In this blog i learned and well for the first time heard about nematode worms "C elegans" and how it is on of the most studied mammals on earth,not only because its a worm but well scientist use it to perfrom certain experiments on it. I also learned what natural selection is, well i knew what it meant, but it just expanded my knowledge about it.
I found this blog very interesting because of the fact how this Dr. from Harvard University put his experiment together. His technique was hmm i guess spectacular, for no one else could've prolly thought about that.
The kind of people that would have maybe a big slim chance of being interested in his experiment would be more scientists, or maybe even doctors. People however that may find this quite intersting would prolly have a wide mind about "antibiotics".
This is my first time on hearing about C.elegans and how they are mostly studied on. To me it is amazing how scientist use these worms to find antibiotics. Although before scientist had to observe these worms by eye they can now observe if they are dead or alive by simply adding orange stain. The stain is better since scientists may observe things faster and more percise.
After reading this blog i learned that scientists use nematode worms, also know as C elegans, for experiments in find antibiotics. I also learned that C elegans was the first to have its genome read completly. I think this is a very helpful method that Dr. Aubuel used to find an antibiotic to cure an infected worm. I also think that Havard has very intresting team and they have accomplished very good things. This article will make people be more intresting in how antibiotics are discovered and what kind of work a scientist has to do.
I didn’t know that nematode worms of a species called C. elegans as its sacrificial victims. C. elegans is one of the most intensively studied animals on Earth. That it was the first to have its genome read completely and it is a millimeter long, and can be mass produced to order, so it is ideal for this sort of work. I think that this new method is very efficient and can bring antibiotics up to date and new ones to come. This form of testing is way better than testing on mice or animals. It will bring peta and animal rights activist to rest.
I this article I learned a new defination for the natural section. Also i wasn't aware that nematoads were the most studied animals on Earth. Overall it is a very interesting process Dr. Ausubel invented. Wihh this new process it should really shorten the time needed for devolping new antibiotics. Wtih this procces many more lives should be saved.
On this particular blog, i seriously did not believe that Nematode worms or C elegans were the most studied mammals on this planet. But then finding out why made more sense.
Another thing i didnt know was that Dr.Ausubel and his collegues have tested over 37,000 compounds using the newest method and have found 28 with antibiotic properties.
My Viewpoint is that this blog was mind blowing. This shows that something so very small can be a big thing. I also found it interesting that there are doctors at Harvard performing procedures like this all the time.
Scientist mostly have a better interest in this kind of read rather than others, this read gives future scientests certain excitement that makes them want to commit to certain experiments. Some biologists would especially be interested in this, especially with knowing the terms of nautural selection as well as seeing compounds formed almost every day.
Lab rats have been used in experimentation for quite some time. Now that scientists have chosen to use the c elegans worms as the victims they are able to more accurately determine the existence of antibotics in different chemicals. Judging of how these worms have been the most studied creatures on the planet it only makes sense to observe their behaviors toward many chemicals that lurk our environment and create viruses. Since many dieases and viruses can become immune to the antibotics, this worm testing can increase the chances of finding new ones to decrease the chances of the virus' survival. I believe that just because mice have many of the same organs and functions as a human they don't necessarly react to the same things.The orange stain to determine the state of being of the organism is quite fascinating and is less time consuming of that of trying to see if it wiggles through a microscope.
i learned that e..elegans are the first creature to have its genome read, and that there are plenty of them, and that white mice have sentimental support. i think it is cool how they can tell which substance was antibiotic. and the worm is only a milimeter long that is crazy. this might impact the future by allowing them to do this more often.
This article is pretty interesting because it's cool on how scientists are using nematode words A.K.A. C elegans to find antibiotics. It is cool on how they're one of the most studied mammals and now scientists are experimenting with them to try to find antibiotics. I didn't know they were one of the most studied mammals, until now. This article really opened my eyes and made me realize that there might be hope to get our antibiotics up to date and help PETA out by not testing on animals.
-Pro-
With this article's information, the last thing you can question is: "What,How and why?!" It is very neat to learn on how these "C elegans" are being used to find antibiotics. Which is totally cool, since worms aren't liked much by humans. Using this instead of the little ones(white mice), is something really out there and unbelievable. But true! It is also interesting to know that this technique is being used in harvard and by others. But what i found most astonishing was the orange stain in which the orange stains enter the dead cells but not the living ones! Simply AMAZING:)
If it wouldn't have been for this article, I would have never known that "C" elegans are used for the finding of antibiotics and also that they are the most stuided animals in the world. The process in which this worms are submitted to is very interesting. Also, it is amazing how scientist just keep up advancing in technology for the benefit of them. Instead of observing the effects by a scientist by eye, microscopes have been programmed to take pictures and have a count of the orange stains which identify the dead worms. For them, it is much easier to provide effective evidence to prove the results of their experiment.
jojo: Wow. Pretty cool. I found this article quite interesting based on the fact that I had never heard of this outstanding animal before. Because the nematode is so easily mass produced, it is used is a heaping number of expirements leaving it the most studied mammal on earth. Dr. Aubuel conducted an experiment where he used orange stain to test antibiotics on these mammals. Super cool!! I simply have to give thanks to this guy for doing such a thing, his experiments and studies, i'm sure, will help cure the sick and dying all around the world.
I have always been intrested in how natural selection works and how it can be used to understand why things are the way they are now.C elegans, these brave soldiers have opened a path to understand antibiotic properties of many compounds. Hopefully scientist further in there reaserch and use this brave pionners of the biological world to develop new antibiotics and understand the evolution of many pathogens against our existing antibiotics.
Hmmm...testing antibiotics on worms rather than nice, and harmless, white mice. Now why didn't I think of that? Out of this whole article, what caught my attention most of all was the fact that they have patience to actually test 37,000 compounds and only find around 28...it's amazing what us humans do to try better ways of survival.
I can not imagine how many living organisms are in our planet like I didn’t know or heard about the “C elegans” before, like I hate worms because they are the ugliest thing in earth =S eewww But I m amazed how there is people that are patient by discovering extraordinary discoveries that help us in many ways. This article was awesome it actually grab my attention like even though I hate worms but like wow how cool the ugliest things in earth are useful. lol!!!
I found this blog to be quite interesting. It provided me with knowledge very new to me. One such example is the nematode worms "C. Elegans". I really loved the way Dr. Ausubel went about his expirment. The nematode is one millimeter long and can be massed produced. Reserchers had to phisically check each nematode worms to see if they were alive using microscopes. Dr. Ausubel changed this using an orange stain.
First of all this reminds me of another process where they use a sort of radioactive substance to find tumors in the body. Its great that there using "C elegens" to find new antibiotics that can help us fight new pathogens. I also found fascinating that orange substance they used to find which C elegens are dead and which are alive. I'd like to know how to make that substance. In my opinion this will create a great opportunity in medicine testing and creation. Hopefully, by doing this, it can speed up the process by which they can combat new and dangerous pathogens. This article can persuade people to fund this type of research. It may also save many lives by quickening the readiness of our bodies towards unknown diseases. Eliud Gonzalez 1st pd
I had never heard about these C elegans how cool is that they are using these worm to find antibiotics. I actually thought all they did was put certain chemicals to make the anitibiotics and then test them on mice or rats if they thought it could help. Plus i think know it's better because know they can start deviating from testing on mice and animals.
Post a Comment