medicines for the future – the search for new antibiotics
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Medicines for the future – the search for new antibiotics. ‘ There are some bacteria which aren’t killed by antibiotics any more. They make people very ill indeed. We need new medicines all the time to keep ahead in the race against disease.’. - PowerPoint PPT PresentationTRANSCRIPT
Medicines for the future – the search for new antibiotics
‘There are some bacteria
which aren’t killed by
antibiotics any more. They
make people very ill indeed.
We need new medicines all the
time to keep ahead in the
race against disease.’‘It isn’t easy to find
chemicals which kill
bacteria but don’t hurt
people. Scientists have to
search in all sorts of
different places.
Scientist 1
“Lots of the antibiotics we have already – like
penicillin - are made by moulds. Lots of moulds
are found in soil.
My team looks at soil from all over the world.
We are looking for a new mould that makes
chemicals which can kill bacteria.”
Scientist 2
‘I look at how bacteria live and grow,
and then use my computer to try and
design new chemicals which will stop
the bacteria growing and kill them.’
Scientist 3
‘Ancient Egyptians used honey to help heal
wounds. We think they may have had the right
idea! Honey seems to contain chemicals which
stop infections caused by bacteria. We are
trying to find out how it works.’
Scientist 4
‘Crocodiles often fight and give each other
terrible bites. Surprisingly, these bites don’t
get infected, even though crocs have filthy
teeth and live in dirty water full of bacteria.
We’ve been looking at crocodile blood – which
isn’t very easy – to see if we can find out why
the bacteria don’t infect the crocodiles. ‘We’ve found a chemical in
crocodile blood which
kills bacteria – even
bacteria which aren’t
killed by any other
antibiotics. We really
hope that crocodillin, as
we’ve called it, might be
an important medicine in
the future!’
Scientist 5
‘Our research is a bit fishy! The slime made by
fish seems to protect them from infections. If
they lose their slime, they soon get infected
scales. We want to know if fish slime contains
chemicals which might make useful antibiotics
for people.
‘We take different
chemicals from fish slime
and see how good they are
at killing bacteria.
We’ve got a long way to
go but things are looking
hopeful.’
Scientist 6
‘We are looking at
organisms from the sea
shore in our search for
new antibiotics.
‘We’ve found some
bacteria on Scottish
beaches which are
giving us some exciting
results. They produce a
chemical which kills
other bacteria -
including some that
aren’t affected by
other antibiotics.’
Scientist 7
‘We’ve been looking at the
seas too – but not on the
shores! Some bacteria found
in the deepest oceans make
chemicals which we think
could be very useful in
killing other bacteria which
cause disease.
‘We’re calling the most
useful chemical so far
abyssomycin because it comes
from the deepest abyss of
the sea. We’ll keep looking
until we find the right
one!’
‘Wow - I think
that’s amazing.
I want to be a
scientist when I
grow up and
help find new
medicines…’
‘Me too!’
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