Scărișoara Ice Cave, Romania
5,000-year-old bacteria extracted from ice in the Scărișoara Ice Cave in Romania could help fight superbugs (if, however, they don’t become one themselves).
A study this Tuesday in Frontiers in Microbiology revealed that bacteria frozen for 5000 years can fight superbugs.
The research was led by a team from the Bucharest Institute of Biology (IBB) of the Romanian Academy, which points to the still unexplored therapeutic potential and the risk of microbes preserved in cold environments for millennia.
As , as bacteria continually evolve to overcome the best treatments we can throw at them, antibiotic resistance represents a serious challenge to public health.
Extreme environments such as the ice cave (of Scărișoara, Romania) where this bacteria was found could help pave the way for improved antibiotics.
“The bacterial strain Psychrobacter SC65A.3 isolated from the Ice Cave of Scărișoara, Romaniadespite its ancient origin, is resistant to multiple modern antibiotics and carries more than 100 genes related to resistance”, says the IBB microbiologist Cristina Purcareawho participated in the study.
But there is a catch
“However, can also inhibit the growth of several resistant ‘superbugs’ to important antibiotics and showed relevant enzymatic activities with significant biotechnological potential”, he added, cited by Science Alert.
The same magazine revealed that Psychrobacter SC65A. 3 could be both a blessing and a curse: on the one hand, it could provide clues to new antibiotic drugs; on the other hand, if it is allowed to resurface and spread, it may also share its drug resistance genes with other bacteria.
The researchers found that Psychrobacter SC65A. 3 was resistant to common antibiotics used to treat lung, skin, blood, and other common infections.
This bacterial strain is part of the Psychrobacter genus of bacteria, which is developed specifically to survive in the cold.
Pros and cons of these “resistance gene reservoirs”
Researchers talk about the possibility of frozen environments acting as reservoirs of resistance genes.
As climate change transforms frozen environments into non-frozen environments, you begin to see thousands of tons of dormant microbes returning to a world very different from the one they were used to.
This means the race is on to find ways to use these bacteria to fight infections and diseases.
In fact, “these microbes produce unique enzymes and antimicrobial compounds that may inspire new antibiotics, industrial enzymes and other innovations biotechnological.”
On the other hand, “if melting ice releases these microbes, these genes could spread to modern bacteria, adding to the global challenge of antibiotic resistance,” says Purcarea.
