A study of bacterial "memory" indicates that germs travel thousands of kilometers via an "air bridge"

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Researchers can discover that bacteria travel thousands of miles around the world via an "invisible air bridge"

  • Bacteria supposed to be transported by animals can actually travel in the air
  • Researchers say bacteria in hot springs around the world are the same
  • Study excludes transfer by birds or humans by studying overheated water
  • The study could help understand the spread of antibiotic-resistant germs

By James Pero for the Dailymail

published: 16:01 EDT, March 26, 2019 | Update: 7:45 pm EDT, March 26, 2019

According to the new research, hypotheses on bacterial migration, which are generally thought to occur via human and animal transporters, may be incomplete.

A new study has shown that microbes can also travel in the air for thousands of kilometers.

The scientists' hypothesis, called "airlift", is based on the fact that the DNA sequences found in bacteria from disparate hot springs around the world have proven to be identical.

Researchers have ruled out the spread of bacteria via birds by studying microbes in overheated water around the world.

Researchers have ruled out the spread of bacteria via birds by studying microbes in overheated water around the world.

"Our research suggests that there must be a planet-wide mechanism that ensures the exchange of bacteria between distant places," said lead author Konstantin Severinov, principal investigator at the 39 Institute of Microbiology Waksman.

The researchers studied a type of biological signature called bacterial "memory," which shows how bacteria interact with viruses.

According to scientists, "memories" are transmitted by virus-infected bacteria into areas of bacterial DNA called CRISPR Arrays.

By studying the order of "memories," researchers can accurately determine how bacteria interact with nearby viruses, giving them a recognizable type of signature.

While researchers expected the geographically disparate bacteria studied in the test to contain very different memories, they discovered that many shared the same story.

Birds and other animals were excluded from the equation due to the fact that the bacteria studied only come from extremely hot water.

"Because the bacteria we are studying live in very hot water – about 160 degrees Fahrenheit – in isolated places, it's impossible to imagine animals, birds, or humans carrying them," Severinov said. a statement.

"They have to be airlifted and this movement has to be very important so that bacteria living in isolated places share common characteristics."

By studying the "memory" of bacteria, researchers are able to determine a type of bio-signature.

By studying the "memory" of bacteria, researchers are able to determine a type of bio-signature.

Samples were taken from bacteria found in gravel at Mount Vesuvius; hot springs on Mount Etna in Italy; the hot springs of the El Tatio region in northern Chile and the Termas del Flaco region in southern Chile; and hot springs in the Uzon Caldera in Kamchatka, Russia.

Scientists say the research results could change the way we understand how diseases and bacteria spread, which would have consequences for important epidemiological studies such as those on antibiotic-resistant bacteria.

The study authors also request additional resources to test the theory of airlift by sampling bacteria in different parts of the atmosphere using drones or research balloons.

WHAT IS RESISTANCE TO ANTIBIOTICS?

Doctors and hospital staff have been dispensing antibiotics unnecessarily for decades, making formerly harmless bacteria become superbugs.

The World Health Organization has already warned that if nothing were done, the world was heading towards a "post-antibiotic" era.

He claimed that common infections, such as chlamydia, would become fatal without immediate responses to the growing crisis.

Bacteria can become resistant to drugs when people take incorrect doses of antibiotics or if they are administered unnecessarily.

Chief Medical Officer Dame Sally Davies said in 2016 that the threat of antibiotic resistance is as serious as terrorism.

Figures estimate that super-bacteria will kill 10 million people each year by 2050, patients succumbing to previously harmless insects.

About 700,000 people are already dying each year from drug-resistant infections, including tuberculosis, HIV and malaria, all over the world.

Concerns have been raised repeatedly that drugs will be reduced to "dark ages" if antibiotics become ineffective in the coming years.

In addition to the fact that existing drugs are becoming less effective, there have been only one or two new antibiotics developed in the last 30 years.

In September, the World Health Organization warned that antibiotics were about to run out, a report revealing a "serious lack" of new drugs under development.

Without antibiotics, caesareans, cancer treatments and hip replacements would also become incredibly "risky", it was said at the time.

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