Resistance

You may have heard that the usage of hand sanitizer can lead to a resistance to harmful bacteria or viruses? Well, the statement above is a misconception, hand sanitizers do not form a resistance to harmful bacteria or viruses.

But, the case of antibiotics resistance developing is real and poses a major threat. Although antibiotics are widely available and you may think that if one antibiotic is unavailable another one can takes its place.  Unfortunately, certain infections can only be treated with one type of antibiotic. From many studies, 25,000 deaths per year are caused by antibiotics resistance. Such bacteria and viruses include: MRSA, VRE, food borne bacteria, CRE, MDR and many more!

A medical chief from England stated that if we humans do not act now; suppose in 20 years you have a minor surgery done. Instead of recovering smoothly, an infection forms that cannot be treated and leads to death because of antibiotic given is no longer effective in the human body(antibiotic resistance).

Now, you are probably wondering how does an antibiotic resistance develop?
There are two main causes: Mutation or Gene transfer. Gene transfer is a lateral swapping of genes instead, vertically of passing of genes from a parent. Gene transfer is broken down into 3 parts: Transformation, transduction and conjugation( below illustrates gene transfer).
                                     
Once the resistance develops within the cell, the main mechanisms that occurs:
1) Enzymes degrade the antibiotics ( looses function)
2) Enzymes can change the role of the antibiotic ( looses function)
3) An efflux pump attaches to the cell and pumps out all the antibiotic in the cell
4) Entry portal for the antibiotics is decreased
                                              
Now, do you realize the major threats of antibiotic resistance?
Although the process seems complicated, there are certain approaches to prevent resistance that WE can follow now:
Do not abuse the usage of antibiotic when not needed and always follow doctors orders (the the length of time, dosage, etc). More ways of preventing antibiotic resistances.

Sources:
1) Payne, David, Michael Gwynn, David Pompliano, and David Holmes. "Drugs for Bad Bugs: Confronting the Challenges of Antibacterial Discovery." Nature. Nature Publishing Group, Jan. 2007. Web. 28 Mar. 2013.
2) Kelland, Kelly. "Antibiotic Resistance Poses 'Catastrophic Threat' To Medicine, Says Britain's Top Health Official." The Huffington Post. TheHuffingtonPost.com, 10 Mar. 2013. Web. 25 Mar. 2013.
3) Todar, Kenneth. "Bacterial Resistance to Antibiotics." Bacterial Resistance to Antibiotics. N.p., 2011. Web. 25 Mar. 2013

Not so perfect skin

Have you ever gotten out of bed and noticed a red bump on your face? Your first instinct is to get rid of the pimple as soon as possible. But, have you ever wondered what caused the pimple to arise? More than 80% of Americans have experienced acne at one point in their lives.

If you were to look at the cross sectional of an epidermis it is broken down into 3 main layers; epidermis, dermis and the subcutaneous layer. One of the main causes of acne is when the sebaceous glands produce too much sebum (oil) it creates a blockage where bacteria can form; such as Propionibacterium acnes and much more.

From a study taken place at the University of California, researchers examined around 100 participants all with a same amount of the P.acnes living within their pores. They genomically analyzed the microbial DNA(genetic makeup), which helped distinguish 3 different strains: RT4, RT5 and RT6. An interesting discovery was found, strains RT4 and RT5 were found in the majority of participants with acne and strain RT6 were found to be within participants with clear skin. RT6 strain contains a gene known to fight off harmful microbes.

Which strain do you have? Although other factors such as hormones, genetics, and lifestyle can cause acne, one step to achieve perfect skin is to cleanse your face on a daily basis. This allows the removal of dead skin cells on epidermis layer to prevent blockage and cleans away the build up of sebum in the Dermis layer.



Sources:
1)"How Does Acne Work?" Discovery Health. N.p., 2013. Web. 24 Mar. 2013.
2)Fitz-Gibbon, Sorel, Shuta Tomida, Bor-Han Chiu, and Lin Nguyen. "Propionibacterium Acnes 
Strain Populations in the Human Skin Microbiome Associated with Acne."Journal of 
Investigative Dermatology. Nature Publishing Group, 21 Jan. 2013. Web. 18 Mar. 2013
3)Telis, Gisela. "Got Pimples? You May Need Better Bacteria." Science NOW, 27 Feb. 2013. Web. 
16 Mar. 2013.