If you are alive today, you've benefited greatly from humankind's ability to deftly handle infectious agents via antibiotic medications. In fact, probably the single greatest achievement of modern medicine remains our ability to thwart (many) deadly microorganisms. But our high usage of antibiotics has put great pressure on these pathogenic bacteria to mutate for their own survival. As a result, deadly strains of bacteria have become more virulent and more resistant to our medications, creating so-called “superbugs.” For instance, an increasing percentage of tuberculosis cases worldwide are attributed to bacterial forms that are resistant to multiple drugs and require more complex treatments with an array of different medications. Eventually, former wonder drugs, like penicillin for instance, can be rendered ineffective.
This is a very scary proposition and this problem is not likely to go away on its own. We need new ways to control bacterial infections and we need them fast. And that brings us to my guest today.
In this episode of humanOS Radio, Dan speaks with Paul Garofolo. Paul is the CEO of Locus Biosciences, a biotech company that is developing a novel class of antimicrobials that take advantage of the CRISPR-Cas system. If this pans out, it would offer a viable alternative to conventional antibiotics, and would presumably be less subject to the known mechanisms of drug resistance. Secondly, this method could be targeted to specific pathogenic bacteria, thus leaving your friendly bugs alone. This seems like a win-win that is both lifesaving and health promoting, potentially (depending on the context).
