infections
Creative Minds: Rapid Testing for Antibiotic Resistance
Posted on by Dr. Francis Collins
Ahmad (Mo) Khalil
The term “freeze-dried” may bring to mind those handy MREs (Meals Ready to Eat) consumed by legions of soldiers, astronauts, and outdoor adventurers. But if one young innovator has his way, a test that features freeze-dried biosensors may soon be a key ally in our nation’s ongoing campaign against the very serious threat of antibiotic-resistant bacterial infections.
Each year, antibiotic-resistant infections account for more than 23,000 deaths in the United States. To help tackle this challenge, Ahmad (Mo) Khalil, a researcher at Boston University, recently received an NIH Director’s New Innovator Award to develop a system that can more quickly determine whether a patient’s bacterial infection will respond best to antibiotic X or antibiotic Y—or, if the infection is actually viral rather than bacterial, no antibiotics are needed at all.
Creative Minds: Searching for Solutions to Chronic Infection
Posted on by Dr. Francis Collins
Kyle R. Allison
If you or a loved one has ever struggled with a bacterial infection that seemed to have gone away with antibiotic treatment, but then came back again, you’ll probably be interested to learn about the work of Kyle Allison. What sometimes happens when a person has an infection—for instance, a staph infection of the skin—is that antibiotics kill off the vast majority of bacteria, but a small fraction remain alive. After antibiotic treatment ends, those lurking bacterial “persisters” begin to multiply, and the person develops a chronic infection that may be very difficult and costly to eliminate.
Unlike antibiotic-resistant superbugs, bacterial persisters don’t possess any specific genetic mutations that protect them against the killing power of one particular medication or another. Rather, the survival of these bacteria depends upon their ability to enter a dormant state that allows them to hang on in the face of antibiotic treatment. It isn’t clear exactly how the bugs do it, and that’s where Kyle’s work comes in.
