Sayan Tribedi is a freelance science writer based in Kolkata, India. He holds a bachelor's degree in chemistry from the University of Calcutta and a master's in bioinformatics from Pondicherry University. With research experience in protein-protein interactions, he brings a strong scientific foundation to his writing.
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Reproductive HealthAll 5 'letters' of DNA found on an asteroid speeding through our solar system. What do they tell us about the origins of life?DNA shed by every living thing is lurking in the environment — and it could tell us how Earth is changing in real timeI was at ground zero for the AIDS epidemic. RFK's cuts could fuel a new pandemic, just when elimination seemed within reach.Acinetobacter baumanniiUnlock instant access to exclusive member features.Receive email from us on behalf of our trusted partners or sponsorsSign up for the latest discoveries, groundbreaking research and fascinating breakthroughs that impact you and the wider world direct to your inbox.Feed your curiosity with an exclusive mystery every week, solved with science and delivered direct to your inbox before it's seen anywhere else.Sign up to our free science & technology newsletter for your weekly fix of fascinating articles, quick quizzes, amazing images, and moreSign up to our monthly entertainment newsletter to keep up with all our coverage of the latest sci-fi and space movies, tv shows, games and books.Discover this week's must-see night sky events, moon phases, and stunning astrophotos. Sign up for our skywatching newsletter and explore the universe with us!Antibiotic-resistant bacteria may have an Achilles' heel: a unique sugar molecule found only on the outsides of bacterial cells. Targeting this molecule can make the bacteria vulnerable to the immune system, which can then destroy the germs and clear infections, recent research in mice shows. If the same effect can be demonstrated in humans, targeting this sugar molecule could offer a new approach to tackling a wide array of superbugs — including notorious species like Drought could fuel the rise of antibiotic-resistant superbugs as climate change worsens, new research suggestsMetal compounds identified as potential new antibiotics, thanks to robots doing 'click chemistry' "The next stage in the development of this concept is to produce an antibody that is suitable for use in humans," said study co-author, who studies the role of sugars called glycans in disease at the Walter and Eliza Hall Institute of Medical Research in Australia. This would involve either"humanizing" the antibody used in their mouse study or identifying a human equivalent that is similarly potent, Goddard-Borger told Live Science in an email.Antibiotic-resistant bacteria pose a critical threat worldwide, and Gram-negative bacteria are a particular problem. Bacteria within this group sport tough protective layers that make them especially hard to treat with many existing drugs. The pathogensThese bacteria often employ a"sugar coat" to help them evade the immune system and resist the effects of antibiotics. The sugar coating essentially mimics sugars seen on human cells, tricking the immune system into ignoring the bacteria.Get the world’s most fascinating discoveries delivered straight to your inbox.showed that a sugar called pseudaminic acid is found exclusively on the outsides of bacterial cells, and that it differs significantly from sugars found on human cells. Theoretically, this could make Pse a safe way to target infections that are resistant to antibiotics, by helping flag the bacteria as"foreign" so the immune system can attack them.They used the tailor-made molecules to develop specialized proteins that latch onto them. These proteins, called monoclonal antibodies, act like a highly specific biological targeting system, designed to home in on the Pse sugars.A. baumannii and found that they tightly bound Pse across all of those bacterial species. The antibodies worked even when the sugars differed in structure between the bacteria. So while this antibody may hit some specific strains across different bacterial species, additional work would be needed to show that these antibodies bind a high percentage of clinical isolates tested for this specific antibody to be reasonably considered as a potential therapeutic.infections. They found that tagging Pse with antibodies made the infections visible to the immune system, enabling immune cells to find, engulf, and destroy the bacteria. In an experiment, 10 mice that didn't receive the antibodies died of their infections within a day. Mice treated with the antibodies had 100% survival through a full week of observation.The study authors think that, in the future, these antibodies could be given to vulnerable hospital patients to help prevent infections. Since Pse is absent in human cells, they expect such a therapy would specifically target bacteria without harming healthy human cells. In the long term, the authors propose, these antibodies could potentially be utilized to develop vaccines that offer broad protection against Gram-negative bacteria.The immediate next step, though, involves adapting these antibodies for potential human use."I do think that it may be possible to develop monoclonal antibodies that target shared sugars across multiple bacteria to be used as a therapeutic," said, assistant professor of molecular microbiology and immunology at the University of Southern California, who was not involved in the study. "However, the main limitation is that the sugars, including pseudaminic acid in this case, are not expressed on all bacteria," Luna told Live Science in an email."So while this antibody may hit some specific strains across different bacterial species, additional work would be needed to show that these antibodies bind a high percentage of clinical isolates tested for this specific antibody to be reasonably considered as a potential therapeutic." In short, much more work is needed to demonstrate that such antibodies could help treat and prevent a wide range of bacterial infections in people.Sayan Tribedi is a freelance science writer based in Kolkata, India. He holds a bachelor's degree in chemistry from the University of Calcutta and a master's in bioinformatics from Pondicherry University. With research experience in protein-protein interactions, he brings a strong scientific foundation to his writing. Sayan enjoys translating complex scientific ideas into accessible, engaging stories for the general public. His work has appeared in The Hindu and Science Reporter, among other publications.Medicine & DrugsMedicine & DrugsQuantum computers need just 10,000 qubits — not the millions we assumed — to break the world's most secure encryption algorithmsQuantum computers need just 10,000 qubits — not the millions we assumed — to break the world's most secure encryption algorithms
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