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[B](Medical Xpress) -- Most everyone that has been keeping abreast of world events knows that the clock is ticking on antibiotics; bacteria have been slowly developing a resistance and development of new antibiotics has slowed to a crawl, thus the day will soon come that all of the tools were are currently using to fight bacterial infections will be lost, leaving everyone at their mercy. This problem has not gone unnoticed by those at the upper reaches of the military establishment in the United States, thus it should not come as a surprise to anyone that DARPA, via the Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) program, has issued a Request for Proposals (RFP) to completely replace antibiotics with something new and better.[/B]
As noted in the RFP, the military has seen firsthand the problems with current antibiotics; soldiers experiencing wounds in war, especially those involved in fires, that develop bacterial infections now require triple the amount of hospital time to recover as doctor’s plow through a host of antibiotics in trying to find the one that will work. Clearly frightened at the prospect of sending soldiers into battle where they may encounter bioengineered bacterial agents, the top brass has decided it’s time to take another approach and to get on it now.
Instead of working to develop new antibiotics, DARPA proposes the development and use of so-called nanoparticles to deliver gene altering chemicals directly to the cells of bacteria to kill them. In addition, they are hoping that someone will be able to come up with a way to make it so that the nanoparticles and chemicals they carry can be reprogrammed on-the-fly so as to combat newly evolved or created bacteria as soon as they appear. The idea is that the nanoparticles would carry something called small interfering RNA (siRNA) which are groups of molecules that would actually do the work of shutting down the genes inside the cells of the bacteria.
DARPA has laid out the project in three phases: Study what’s out there now, develop the nanoparticle delivery system and siRNA, and devise a means for rapidly reprogramming them.
On its face, the project seems rather simple, after all, this is not science fiction, DARPA points out that just last year a research group used siRNA delivered by nanoparticles to kill the Ebola virus in four primates. Unfortunately, the problem is, it’s not as easy as it looks, all of this science is still in its infancy and if a way can be found to do what is being asked, it likely will take years, if not decades to fully develop. The success against the Ebola virus was one agent against just one virus in a structured environment. To do what DARPA wants would mean using one technique to kill any and all bad bacteria and/or viruses. Also, if it can be done, no one really knows if the procedure would be reprogrammable, much less whether it could be done on-the-fly, so it’s not really clear if anyone will be able to achieve what DARPA is asking for; though it seems for the sake of all of us, we better hope so. Turning back the clock to a time when we were helpless against the onslaught of bacterial infections would be difficult to swallow, to say the least.
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[URL="http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-11-darpa-antibiotic.html"]Source[/URL]
antibiotics are handed out for things such as a simple cough or sneeze where i live, it's ridiculous.
no wonder bacteria are resisting to it so quickly
For some reason having DARPA in the title made me read 'biotic' as 'bionic'.
Please please please i have the clap
Seriously though, anti-biotic resistant STD's will become a very, very huge problem considering how easy it is to contract them.
[QUOTE=Joazzz;33407177]For some reason having DARPA in the title made me read 'biotic' as 'bionic'.[/QUOTE]
Probably cause "replacement" "Darpa" are in the title, and biotic nearly has the same wording as bionic
[QUOTE=DrBreen;33407186]Please please please i have the clap
Seriously though, anti-biotic resistant STD's will become a very, very huge problem considering how easy it is to contract them.[/QUOTE]
Aren't most STD's viruses and thus antibiotics being completely useless against them?
[QUOTE=carcarcargo;33407254]Aren't most STD's viruses and thus antibiotics being completely useless against them?[/QUOTE]
not all STD's are viral, most are bacterial, which can be treated with antibiotics, Chlamydia and gonorrhea, all kinds of herpes, syphilis etc
no wait syphilis is penicillin
Antibiotics are a foolsy pill to pop; not only do they increase the chance of breeding superbugs, they ALSO kill many of your good bacteria as well, which can be bad for one's digestive system and other subroutines.
Nanobiotics.
Watch as DARPA builds a 10 metre tall robot that scans your body for pathogens then kills them just by looking at them.
[QUOTE=ironman17;33407452]Antibiotics are a foolsy pill to pop; not only do they increase the chance of breeding superbugs, they ALSO kill many of your good bacteria as well, which can be bad for one's digestive system and other subroutines.[/QUOTE]
exactly that's why it should be a last case scenario.. radiation therapy suppresses cancer but of course it can also fuck up your body, especially if they're pumping radioactive chemicals on your IV, which can fuck up the liver if overdosed
Well considering that people really do not understand that antibiotics should not be used for a cure all are the reason for such a thing, it is not surprising. These kind of projects from Darpa are the things that this country needs not some new way of killing someone. Glad that they are now pursuing this rather than the pharmaceutical companies.
Aye, rads are also a hazardous course of action.
Hopefully DARPA's seek-and-mutate nanites (the particles carry siRNA to infect and alter the bad bacteria) will be up to the test of improving the medical scene. Also I wonder if they work on bacteria that cause bad breath and tooth decay? If so then it'd work wonders in dentistry.
Necessity breeds invention. A whole shitton of cool stuff is gonna come from this.
HNNNNG DARPA
Antibionics saved me many times, can't deny it.
[QUOTE=JgcxCub;33407480]Watch as DARPA builds a 10 metre tall robot that scans your body for pathogens then kills them just by looking at them and takes control of our lives with their awesome technology.[/QUOTE]
Fixed.
[QUOTE=carcarcargo;33407254]Aren't most STD's viruses and thus antibiotics being completely useless against them?[/QUOTE]
Yeah, though we're just recently developing real anti-viral antibiotics
speaking of which, can viruses evolve like bacteria can to resist antibiotics?
since viruses aren't even considered living things after all
[QUOTE=frankie penis;33407176]antibiotics are handed out for things such as a simple cough or sneeze where i live, it's ridiculous.
no wonder bacteria are resisting to it so quickly[/QUOTE]
Doesn't the problem come mostly from people who don't finish the whole bottle
I have not taken any Anti-Biotics in years.
[QUOTE=CakeMaster7;33410859]Yeah, though we're just recently developing real anti-viral antibiotics
speaking of which, can viruses evolve like bacteria can to resist antibiotics?
since viruses aren't even considered living things after all[/QUOTE]
i don't think i ever thought about that.
[QUOTE=JgcxCub;33407480]Watch as DARPA builds a 10 metre tall robot that scans your body for pathogens then kills them just by looking at them.[/QUOTE]
I wouldn't be surprised. Their solution to soldiers bleeding out was melting flesh into a bandage with a [url=http://www.wired.com/dangerroom/2009/10/commandos-field-test-plasma-knife/]plasma knife[/url]. When they saw soldiers strain under the weight of their equipment, they created a [url=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SSbZrQp-HOk]robotic pack mule[/url]. When they saw one too many humvees get blown to bits, they decided that it would be safer to make [url=http://www.wired.com/dangerroom/2011/10/darpa-flying-humvee-designs/]flying armored cars[/url]. And then when faced with the ultimate problem of leaving Earth, here comes DARPA's grandiose [url=http://www.100yss.org/]"100-Year Starship Study,"[/url] a century-long effort to make mankind a space-faring race. These guys don't kid around.
DARPA is one badass company
We should develop bacteria against bacteria
[QUOTE=Karmah;33411895]We should develop bacteria against bacteria[/QUOTE]
No, that's just silly. Viruses are the obvious answer.
Why have companies that make things like antibacterial soap, despite the fact that they full-well know that one day it'll create 'super-bacteria', managed to get away with this shit for so long? This stupid anti-bacterial craze that's swept the world in recent years is going to culminate in what will amount to a crime against humanity!
We all knew this day would come eventually, why have laws, rules and regulations not been put in place to prevent it from happening? I mean we're even forcing bacteria to become resistant to silver nanoparticles by making those ridiculous silver band-aids! You'd have to be REALLY fucking unlucky to die/lose a limb/suffer any long term, permanent damage due to a cut or a graze - there's no need to stick in things like silver nanoparticles into band-aids that we could be using decades down the track for more important treatments.
[QUOTE=Zeke129;33411413]Doesn't the problem come mostly from people who don't finish the whole bottle[/QUOTE]
It's both
their overuse means it's common and lots of bacteria get it and it's relatively common for the entire bottle not to be used
another important factor is like with anti-bacterial soap, notice how they always say they kill [b]99.9%[/b] percent of bacteria, meaning there's always survivors who could evolve to become resistant
Don't think I've ever received antibiotics, I've been under general anaesthesia at the dentist though :v:.
Better to let your own body fight it off if it can imo.
[QUOTE=CakeMaster7;33410859]Yeah, though we're just recently developing real anti-viral antibiotics
speaking of which, can viruses evolve like bacteria can to resist antibiotics?
since viruses aren't even considered living things after all[/QUOTE]
Yes. That's why they need to make a new vaccine for the common cold and flu every year.
[QUOTE=Jabberwocky;33414895]Yes. That's why they need to make a new vaccine for the common cold and flu every year.[/QUOTE]
Rather than saying that the commond cold and flu evolve, would it not be more accurate to say that they're very prone to mutations?
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