Innovation/Links of note/Science

Outbreak Detectives Embrace the Genome Era: Science

Posted on by charlie

“Genomic epidemiologists say, it’s time to use the technique to track microbial movements on a global scale. By routinely sequencing bacterial samples—perhaps up to a billion a year—scientists could pinpoint the sources of new outbreaks faster, determine whether a bug is resistant to antibiotics, and investigate how public policies or the use of certain drugs change the course of microbial evolution.”

One part of my job is talking to “pharmaco”epidemiologist who take claims data and electronic health records and mine them for outcomes and drug safety and effectiveness. [Plug] Our product can take huge amounts of data and query it at blazingly fast speeds.

For sure, if we have some large pathogen vigilance data stream being added to a large data warehouse (ours), researchers can query and analyze the data and predict outbreaks before they happen.

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Innovation/Links of note/Science

Experts Debate Polypill: A Single Pill for Global Health: Science

Posted on by charlie

“In the past year, the idea of a “polypill” combining several cheap, well-tested heart drugs has gained momentum, although it still has its critics. … But some question whether a pop-a-pill mentality should be encouraged, and many cardiologists are sharply critical of the potential risks inherent in one-size-fits-all treatment of patients who are not at risk.”

I’m thinking more a personalized poly-pill. Indeed, multi-drug interactions don’t seem to be studied enough. Though I think there’s an opportunity here.

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Innovation/Links of note/Science

PLoS One: Global Patterns of Bacterial Beta-Diversity in Seafloor and Seawater Ecosystems

Posted on by charlie

“This first synthesis of global bacterial distribution across different ecosystems of the World’s oceans shows remarkable horizontal and vertical large-scale patterns in bacterial communities. This opens interesting perspectives for the definition of biogeographical biomes for bacteria of ocean waters and the seabed.”

This is one cool modern day ecological analysis.

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Links of note/Science/Strategy/The Narrative

Another step forward in the future of anti-microbials

Posted on by charlie

Title: PLoS ONE: Antifungal Activity of Microbial Secondary Metabolites

“Secondary metabolites are well known for their ability to impede other microorganisms. Reanalysis of a screen of natural products using the Caenorhabditis elegans-Candida albicans infection model identified twelve microbial secondary metabolites capable of conferring an increase in survival to infected nematodes.”

I keep thinking of the Post-antimicrobial Age. Like in this paper, we have spent the last century isolating what Nature has produced (raiding Nature’s pantry?), occasionally tweaking the compounds as they became ineffective.

The thing is, Nature evolves much quicker than we can, and can sample a much broader and complex space of adjacent possible than we can. We’re just not keeping up.

Many are worried that the numbers of new antibiotics per year is going down; that for many nasty pathogens, we’re at a last effective drug or entering the realm of super-resistance. Indeed, it seems that at our current pace, we’re set to lose (though people have been saying that for at least the 15 years I’ve been tracking it).

I see at least two areas that would need to be improved: 1) a more practical use of microbes – better screening of Nature’s solutions, better understanding of the ecology of pathogenesis (these point towards solutions, as is described in the paper above); 2) greater speed in evolving new molecules, exploring adjacent possibles, much like Nature does (rather than slow tweaking of existing molecules).

In short, until we start thinking like microbes, we’re stuck with an ever diminishing arsenal of anti-microbials.

What do you think?

Innovation/Links of note/Science/Strategy

Testing for Disease, for Under a Penny, Using Bits of Paper – NYTimes.com

Posted on by charlie

“The diagnostic tests designed in Dr. Whitesides’s Harvard University chemistry laboratory fit on a postage stamp and cost less than a penny. His secret? Paper.”

I’d read about this before. But glad to see that things are moving along well – funding, products, future. While diagnostics on paper is nothing new (pregnancy and diabetes test, those ubiquitous dip sticks), the creation of channels with wax allows for a more sophisticated chemistry.

This is a great example of lo-tech hi-tech, using simple, long-established tools to do something better. I think folks too often head for the more complex and more expensive because it’s easier and less constrained (I used to say the same thing about dumbphones vs smartphones).

What they’ve done here is printed out wax channels, added some chemicals (by hand!), cut and package the postage stamps. To use it, spot some liquid, the paper wicks the liquid through the channels, chemistry is done, and you read out the color.

Very cool.

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Watch the video…

Innovation/Links of note/Science/Strategy

Waste Water + Bacteria = Clean Energy – ScienceNOW

Posted on by charlie

“For the first time, researchers have sustainably produced hydrogen gas, a potential source of clean energy, using only water and bacteria. The challenge now, scientists say, is to scale up the process to provide large amounts of hydrogen for various purposes, such as fueling vehicles or small generators.”

I keep thinking of how to extract electricity or combustible gas from bacteria. And here someone has improved on the process to extract hydrogen in some usable quantity. Seem like there are still a few technical hurdles, but the most interesting comment to me was that they really can’t use ALL the hydrogen the bacteria produce – the bugs need the hydrogen as well. That got me thinking of milking cows – you still need to feed that calf.

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Innovation/Links of note/Science/Strategy

Device uses leaf technology to turn sunlight into power – The Boston Globe

Posted on by charlie

“The thumb-size black strip looks like a thin magnet. But in reality, it is an artificial leaf, made of silicon and capable of using sunlight to split water into hydrogen and oxygen that can be fed into fuel cells to make power. “You drop it in a glass of water and you walk outside and hold it in the sun, and you’ll start to see bubbles of hydrogen and oxygen,’’ explained Daniel Nocera, an MIT professor who led the team that invented the device.”

Quite cool.

Image from the Globe

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Innovation/Links of note

Want Fatter Cows? Bring In a Zebra – ScienceNOW

Posted on by charlie

“”Natural selection has favored that mix,” says Johan du Toit, an ecologist at Utah State University in Logan. Natural selection, maybe, but not people. Convinced that other grass-chomping animals will drive their herds to starvation, ranchers in Kenya and elsewhere tend to keep their cattle separate from wildlife. But a new study suggests that thinking may be wrong. Wildlife, particularly zebras, can actually help a ranch thrive.”

Another strike against mono-cultures, in this case, cattle. I think this study is a good example of why folks need to take ecological views of plant and animal farming. For example, my son has been experimenting with the old Native American technique of growing corn (tall straight stalks), beans (that climb up the corn stalk), and squash or cucumbers (which spread low below these other two plants). True, our mechanized farming isn’t set up for mixed farming techniques, but the benefits might drive the financials and the change.

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