A crippling and life-threatening disease
The humid environments that are home to items like shower heads and toothbrushes are the perfect breeding ground for bacteria.
Households are filled with tremendous biodiversity! Thousands of microbes, bacteria, and viruses thrive in our homes.
Many of these viruses actually prevent us from getting sick. They’re called bacteriophages and support a healthy immune system by destroying specific types of bacteria.
Currently, bacteriophages are being examined in clinical trials to determine their potential role in combatting issues of antibiotic resistance.
These clinical trials are attempts to see how, through infecting and replicating within a host bacterium, bacteriophages could eliminate pathogens.
This type of research offers the potential for explorations in terms of new drugs, methods, and approaches to treat antibiotic-resistant bacteria.
Through these trials, scientists are exploring how a pathogen can be specifically targeted without disturbing the entire microbiome.
The possibility for an antibiotic, or a specific kind of antibiotic treatment, that would be able to produce a limited effect on the human microbiome can both advance medicine and preserve the human body, ensuring it’s less resistant to treatments.
In the age of superbugs, with the potential for new pandemics tied to changes in our climate and environment, these kinds of studies can greatly impact the future of medicine.
A study published in the Frontiers in Microbiomes explored biofilms collected from the surface of 34 toothbrushes and 92 shower heads uncovered diverse microorganisms.
Through this study, researchers were able to look at the kinds of bacteria that are living on our everyday items, specifically identifying which bacteriophages inhabit these items.
The McCormick School of Engineering, which led the study regarding the discovery of viruses and the biodiversity of our household environments, notes the results exceeded what scientists previously knew.
An incredible 614 viruses and 22 different bacteriophages were identified through the biofilms sampled by researchers.
While samples collected from shower heads rely more on the aspect of humidity and the bathroom environment itself, toothbrushes are particularly interesting as they also have bacteria from our mouths.
What makes the toothbrush interesting is that constant exchange between the bacteria living on the toothbrush and the bacteria living in our mouths, which continues to evolve, creates a unique set of viruses specific to your toothbrush.
The diversity of what the researchers found also speaks to the specific evolution of individual items. No two toothbrushes or shower heads hosted the same bacteriophages.
A host of bacteria, viruses, and bacteriophages were identified, including many previously unknown to scientists.
Microbes are incredibly important to human life. They allow us to perform basic necessities, like digestion and countering infections. The more diverse the microbe is, potentially, the more healthy we are.
The World Health Organization considers antimicrobial-resistant infections to be one of the most grave public health threats that humanity is facing.
And not just humans! Veterinary doctors have also reported concerns of resistant infections in animals, too, particularly in livestock.
In the United States, there are more than 2.8 million antimicrobial-resistant infections that occur annually.
Infections that can arise in those who undergo common medical interventions, such as surgery and chemotherapy, become much more dangerous.
Those undergoing medical treatments also become more vulnerable to contracting infections in medical environments, and their immune systems are typically more compromised.
The combination of exposure and increased risk, in the context of resistance to medication, makes simple procedures and interventions potentially dangerous.
Studies and clinical trials exploring solutions to resistance to medical intervention are important for everyone, but particularly critical for those who face greater risk.
These studies and their offshoots offer exciting possibilities for a wide array of medical interventions and biotechnology in general.
Instead of fearing bacteria and viruses, scientists encourage us to look at them with curiosity. Whether good or bad, they are part of our lives. The more we can understand them, the more we can understand our own health.
Sources: (CNN) (Time) (New Scientist) (Newsweek)
Researchers sequenced bacteria DNA and examined their bacteriophages via computer analysis to examine what lives on our common household items.
A new study has uncovered a wide array of microbial species from common household items, from your toothbrush to your shower head. Samples taken from these household staples are helping to uncover the future of medicine and biotechnology. Although bacteria may not sound that appealing in our day-to-day lives, when we look at it with curiosity, we can also identify its potential.
Curious to know more? Click on the gallery to read on!
When we think about all the household surfaces that we come into contact with, it can spark a great deal of curiosity about the kind of life that lives in our home, how it evolves, and how it affects our health.
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HEALTH Homes
A new study has uncovered a wide array of microbial species from common household items, from your toothbrush to your shower head. Samples taken from these household staples are helping to develop the future of medicine and biotechnology. Although bacteria may not sound that appealing in our day-to-day lives, when we look at it with curiosity, we can also identify its potential.
Curious to know more? Click on the gallery to read on!