An oft-repeated lament against modernity, capitalism and especially private healthcare is the threat of “superbugs,” evolved (note — not “intelligently designed”) strains of bacteria that have become resistant to most antibiotics.
There is certainly evidence to suggest that antibiotics are occasionally used inappropriately (e.g., flu patients demanding antibiotics even though they are totally ineffective against that ailment). But are we “doomed” to an apocalyptic “Catastrophe of the Commons” as the negative externalities of ever-increasing antibiotic use spiral out of control like something out of a Michael Crichton novel?
Doctors first identified methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) bacteria in the 1960s and hospitals have been fighting to control their spread ever since. MRSA carry a unique protein called PBP 2a on the cell membrane that plays a key role in helping to defend against antibiotics. In February, Shahriar Mobashery of Notre Dame University and his colleagues identified specific components of the bacterial cell wall that interact with PBP 2a to form a chemical barricade. The team has now made three new synthetic antibiotics based on cephalosporin, a close relative of penicillin. The compounds contain protein components that mimic the crucial parts of the cell wall that cooperate with PBP 2a, which leads to its deactivation and forces the bacterium to succumb to the medication. “We are the first to demonstrate this unique strategy,” Mobashery says, “which could provide a new line of defense against the growing problem of antibiotic resistance.”
Superbug bacteria are antibiotic-resistant for a reason. Once scientists discover the reason (in this case a protein on the cell membrane), they simply need to work around that reason and find an alternative approach to combatting the organism.
Stated differently, unlike the bacteria, the antibiotics are intelligently designed. And we’ve hardly run out of intelligence.
Perhaps the doomsayers should stick to global warming.
