The Perfect Predator tells the story of two world-renowned, globetrotting HIV research scientists almost defeated by antibiotic-resistant bacteria. This harrowing, first-hand narrative takes a reader bedside throughout Tom’s seemingly futile battle with a multi-drug resistant bacterial infection. It lays bare the couple’s struggles.
Dirt is Good: The Advantages of Germs for Your Child’s Developing Immune System answers parent’s questions about the microbiome and their kid’s health. Parents, hold on to your diaper bags, Dirt is Good: The Advantages of Germs for Your Child’s Developing Immune System seeks to answer microbiome-related parenting questions. Science writer Sandra Blakeslee teams up with microbiome scientists, Rob Knight, PhD and Jack Gilbert, PhD, to eloquently capture the answers to the hundreds of questions Rob and Jack have been asked by concerned parents. After a general introduction about the human microbiome, Dirt is Good starts with the interaction of the microbiome and human immune system in pregnancy. Continuing on through birth, first foods (both liquid and solid), the book touches on a range of topics organized loosely into chapters including the environment, conditions, depression, vaccines, and tests. There’s an amazing diversity of chapter topics. What Dirt is Good does well Talks candidly, clearly, and quickly about the current understanding of the microbiome and children’s health. Dirt is Good is clear about not overselling the microbiome and current probiotics. Throughout the book are stories of how their experience as parents and microbiome researchers change their ideas of cleanliness and health. What is
An open letter to Beyoncé wishing her and her family well as the twins meet their microbial partners for life. Dear Beyoncé, As you wait and prepare for the twins’ birth please don’t forget the invisible microbes that will protect, feed, and teach your babies for the rest of their lives. Yep, I’m talking about “germs” or more politically correctly – “microbes”. Babies are “microbe magnets”. Those first microbes that baby encounters become their microbes for life. They are stuck together – life partners in sickness and in health. What’s cool is that these microbes are security guards keeping away diseases, chefs chopping up food to feed baby, and soothing Jedi masters who teach baby’s immune system what to kill and what to ignore. In my grandmother’s day, people in developed countries died from communicable diseases – polio, mumps, measles, yellow fever. Diseases that are spread from person to person by sneezing, coughing, or spread by insects, like mosquitos. Today people die from non-communicable diseases – diabetes, allergies, asthma, autoimmune diseases, and more. Our diseases today aren’t due to specific microbial pathogens. Vaccines, handwashing, clean water, sewers, and antibiotics keep these easy-to-spread microbial diseases at low numbers. Instead, today’s diseases
Tiny Earth (TE) challenges over 10,000 students to solve a “real-life” medical problem – antibiotic resistance – while training for higher-paying STEM jobs. Real research projects like TE increase STEM diversity by better engaging women and minorities with a reason for their training. The World Health Organization celebrates Antibiotic Awareness Week November 14-20 to raise awareness about the importance of properly using antibiotics. Since antibiotics were first developed in the 1940’s, they have saved countless lives. However, we have overused and misused antibiotics and are now confronted with the idea of an “antibiotic winter”, where bacterial pathogens have evolved resistance to these life-saving drugs rendering them useless. To make matters worse, the big pharmaceutical companies are not investing in research for new antibiotics because rediscovery rate is high. Antibiotics are simply not as profitable as other drugs. Academia and citizen science can fill this gap in novel antibiotic discovery by doing the initial discovery process, while teaching students valuable microbiology techniques. Once potential products are identified, then academic-private partnerships can be formed to get the antibiotic through testing and perhaps to market. Tiny Earth (TE) is one such academic group sifting through hundreds of thousands of soil microbes for new
The World Health Organization declared November 14-20, 2016 as Antibiotic Awareness Week to highlight the importance of safely using antibiotics to limit the spread of antibiotic resistance. This week, Antibiotic Awareness Week 2016, I’ll be highlighting some great resources and fabulous work being done to try to save us from an “Antibiotic Winter” – a time when bacteria cannot be killed by our strongest antibiotics. If you’ve ever questioned the evolution of antibiotic resistance or how quickly it can happen, watch this amazing video below. Each rectangle on the plate is an increasing concentration of antibiotic. In TWO WEEKS the bacteria are resistant to the strongest dose (100,000 times the starting concentration). If you are interested in an EXCELLENT general book about the problem – read Missing Microbes by Martin Blazer, see my posts below for more details and links to his talks.