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Antibiotics search to focus on sea bed | Antibiotics search to focus on sea bed |
(about 17 hours later) | |
Researchers are embarking on an £8m project to discover new antibiotics at the bottom of the ocean. | Researchers are embarking on an £8m project to discover new antibiotics at the bottom of the ocean. |
A team, led by scientists at Aberdeen University, is hunting for undiscovered chemicals among life that has evolved in deep sea trenches. | |
Prof Marcel Jaspars said the team hoped to find "the next generation" of infection-fighting drugs. | Prof Marcel Jaspars said the team hoped to find "the next generation" of infection-fighting drugs. |
England's chief medical officer has warned of an "antibiotic apocalypse" with too few new drugs in the pipeline. | England's chief medical officer has warned of an "antibiotic apocalypse" with too few new drugs in the pipeline. |
Few samples have ever been collected from ocean trenches - deep, narrow valleys in the sea floor which can plunge down to almost 6.8 miles (11km). | |
Yet researchers believe there is great potential for discovering antibiotics in these extreme conditions. | Yet researchers believe there is great potential for discovering antibiotics in these extreme conditions. |
Life in these incredibly hostile environments is effectively cut off and has evolved differently in each trench. | Life in these incredibly hostile environments is effectively cut off and has evolved differently in each trench. |
The international team will use fishing vessels to drop sampling equipment on a reel of cables to the trench bed to collect sediment. | The international team will use fishing vessels to drop sampling equipment on a reel of cables to the trench bed to collect sediment. |
Scientists will then attempt to grow unique bacteria and fungi from the sediment that can be extracted and refined to discover new antibiotics. | |
Starting in the autumn with the Atacama Trench in the eastern Pacific Ocean - about 100 miles (161km) off the coast of Chile and Peru - the EU-funded research will also search deep trenches off New Zealand as well waters off Antarctica. | |
Arctic waters off Norway will also be explored. | Arctic waters off Norway will also be explored. |
'Pre-antibiotic era' | 'Pre-antibiotic era' |
The inappropriate prescribing of antibiotics - and an over-reliance on the drugs - has led to a rapid increase in resistant bugs and medical experts fear effective antibiotics might soon run out completely. | The inappropriate prescribing of antibiotics - and an over-reliance on the drugs - has led to a rapid increase in resistant bugs and medical experts fear effective antibiotics might soon run out completely. |
In January, Chief Medical Officer for England, Dame Sally Davies, compared the threat to global warming and said going for a routine operation could become deadly due to the risk of untreatable infection. | In January, Chief Medical Officer for England, Dame Sally Davies, compared the threat to global warming and said going for a routine operation could become deadly due to the risk of untreatable infection. |
Project leader Marcel Jaspars, professor of chemistry at the University of Aberdeen, said: "If nothing's done to combat this problem, we're going to be back to a 'pre-antibiotic era' in around 10 or 20 years, where bugs and infections that are currently quite simple to treat could be fatal." | |
He said there had not been a "completely new" antibiotic registered since 2003 - "partially because of a lack of interest by drugs companies as antibiotics are not particularly profitable". | He said there had not been a "completely new" antibiotic registered since 2003 - "partially because of a lack of interest by drugs companies as antibiotics are not particularly profitable". |
"The average person uses an antibiotic for only a few weeks and the drug itself only has around a five to 10-year lifespan, so the firms don't see much return on their investment." | |
He said he expected scientists to be working on samples in the laboratory within 18 months and added that, if new treatments were discovered, they could be available within a decade. | He said he expected scientists to be working on samples in the laboratory within 18 months and added that, if new treatments were discovered, they could be available within a decade. |
Project co-ordinator Dr Camila Esguerra, from the University of Leuven in Belgium, said: "We'll be testing many unique chemical compounds from these marine samples that have literally never seen the light of day. | Project co-ordinator Dr Camila Esguerra, from the University of Leuven in Belgium, said: "We'll be testing many unique chemical compounds from these marine samples that have literally never seen the light of day. |
"We're quite hopeful that we'll find a number of exciting new drug leads." | "We're quite hopeful that we'll find a number of exciting new drug leads." |
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