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posted by Fnord666 on Friday August 30 2019, @10:41AM   Printer-friendly
from the bacterial-arms-race dept.

Arthur T Knackerbracket has found the following story:

Is there a solution to bacteria becoming resistant to antibiotics? One answer may be found by studying the world's largest and most brutal army, new University of Otago microbiology research shows.

In fact that army—bacteria-attacking viruses known as phages—outnumber bacteria nearly ten-fold, making them the most abundant biological entity on earth. They are intricately adapted to invading, weakening and controlling their targets, then keeping them alive long enough to feed off them and use them to breed.

To defend themselves from the phage invasion, bacteria have developed "CRISPR" defense systems—immune systems within the bacteria. But the phages have their own weapon, called "anti-CRISPR," which blocks these bacterial defenses.

The Otago study's lead author, Ph.D. student Nils Birkholz, of the University's Department of Microbiology and Immunology, says the new research shows phages use a special protein to control the production of the anti-CRISPR when they invade a bacteria.

Initially they rapidly ramp up anti-CRISPR production, conquering the bacteria's defense system. Then, with the bacteria beaten, the phages use the protein to switch off anti-CRISPR production, ensuring the bacteria survives—conquered, but alive.

That makes sense, Mr Birkholz says, as phages, like all viruses, are not just conquerors but hijackers that reproduce inside living hosts.

"We know from previous research that too much anti-CRISPR production can be bad for the cell and an important question was how anti-CRISPR abundance is controlled. This has now been answered by our research.

"Our results suggest that right after infection, the phage produces a large enough anti-CRISPR quantity to inhibit bacterial defense, but then turns down production to avoid any negative side effects.

[...] The research paper, called "The autoregulator Aca2 mediates anti-CRISPR repression" and published in Nucleic Acids Research this month, was written by Nils Birkholz, Robert D. Fagerlund, Leah M. Smith, Simon A. Jackson and Peter C. Fineran.


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  • (Score: -1, Troll) by Anonymous Coward on Friday August 30 2019, @02:07PM (1 child)

    by Anonymous Coward on Friday August 30 2019, @02:07PM (#887748)

    No cure will be allowed for the public as long as the khazar jews control medicine. Khazar jews are the disease that causes cancer, AIDS and most illnesses.

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  • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday August 30 2019, @04:55PM

    by Anonymous Coward on Friday August 30 2019, @04:55PM (#887829)

    Hey, EF, you missed the more obvious joke in the title. Bacteria attacking fags! Damned queers will eat ANYTHING!!