Medical Discovery News
Science permeates everyday life. Yet the understanding of advances in biomedical science is limited at best. Few people make the connection that biomedical science is medicine and that biomedical scientists are working today for the medicine of tomorrow. Our weekly five-hundred-word newspaper column (http://www.illuminascicom.com/) and two-minute radio show provide insights into a broad range of biomedical science topics. Medical Discovery News is dedicated to explaining discoveries in biomedical research and their promise for the future of medicine. Each release is designed to stimulate listeners to think, question and appreciate how science affects their health as well as that of the rest of the world. We also delve into significant biomedical discoveries and portray how science (or the lack of it) has impacted health throughout history.
Medical Discovery News
Wind Blown Microbes
948 Wind Blown Microbes
Welcome to Medical Discovery News. I’m Dr. Norbert Herzog.
And I’m Dr. David Niesel
Certain times of the year, we hear about Saharan dust reaching the US from Africa, carried by high atmospheric winds.
And now a new study tells us something more worrying can be carried great distances by the wind: disease causing microbes
Researchers found microbes originating from an agricultural area in northeastern China traveled over twelve hundred miles to Tokyo, Japan.
The air samples were taken up to two miles above Tokyo over ten plane flights. The microbes hitched a ride on unique dust particles that were traceable. They came from cereal fields that contained aerosolized sewage.
Not only did the dust particles carry bacteria and fungi, but they also protected the microbes from UV radiation and drying out in the atmosphere.
More than three hundred types of bacteria and two hundred fifty types of fungi were found in the air over Tokyo. And up to forty percent were species capable of causing disease in people such as the intestinal pathogens Clostridium difficile and E. coli.
Some bacteria carried antibiotic-resistant genes which means they could be transferred to other bacteria. There weren’t enough microbes to cause an outbreak, but the atmosphere could be a reservoir for these pathogens that can fall to the ground with rain.
We used to believe that altitude air was generally considered sterile. Not anymore and since bacteria and fungi do not require a passport, we can’t keep them out.
We are Drs. David Niesel and Norbert Herzog, at UTMB and Quinnipiac University, where biomedical discoveries shape the future of medicine. For much more and our disclaimer go to medicaldiscoverynews.com or subscribe to our podcast. Sign up for expanded print episodes at www.illuminascicom.com
