Pasadena is a small town in the state of California, USA. Several well-known scientific laboratories spread across the city, such as NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Cavalli Nanoscience Institute, etc. And one of the best educational institutions globally is the California Institute of Technology or Caltech for short. Dr. Rajibul Islam from "Science" had a chat with Debnath Ghoshal, a post-doctoral researcher of the same university in Pasadena. In that chat, some critical questions and research on bacteria and antibiotics came up. Debabrata Maji has arranged the article based on that chat.
Millions of bacteria surround us. This unicellular, microscopic microorganism appeared on Earth about a billion years before man was created. Where do they live? Starting from the top of the icy mountain to the deepest point of the sea; They roam freely everywhere. I even have a lot of bacteria inside my body. That number is not wrong at all. There are more bacteria in our body than there are cells in our body. No, there is nothing to worry about. Bacteria are not necessarily harmful. Instead, they benefit our bodies.
On the one hand, they help in the digestion of food in our body; on the other hand, they also provide immunity by building immunity. They also play a unique role in maintaining our normal body circular processes from our body. But sometimes, some harmful bacteria enter our bodies. They cause terrible diseases ranging from fever to plague, tuberculosis, cholera, or gastric cancer. Our fight is against them. Numerous scientists have been conducting relentless research in laboratories around the world to develop antibiotics against them. In today's chat, we will hear the story of that research.
Anyway, let's come to the context of the chat. Dr. Rajibul Islam of the 'Science' team asked the question for researcher Dr. Debnath Ghoshal.
Science. Org. In: When we go to the doctor, the doctors often tell us to take antibiotics. So what exactly do these antibiotics do?
Debnath: There are different types of antibiotics. Not all antibiotics work the same way. However, the most common type of antibiotic we use is beta-lactam antibiotics of the penicillin family. Its primary function is to destroy the immune system by blocking the formation of bacteria. As a result, the bacterial cell dies as it cannot withstand the oscillating pressure.
However, in the case of Gram-negative bacteria, there is a lining of the cell membrane outside the cell wall, making it very difficult for them to invade the cell wall. And even if antibiotics reach their cell walls, they expel them through a particular type of protein complex (efflux pump). Therefore, ribosome inhibitors, folate synthesis inhibitors, and transcription inhibitors have been provided as alternative antibiotics for Gram-negative bacteria [4]. These antibiotics kill bacterial cells by inhibiting the production of all the necessary proteins from the ribosomes of the bacterial cell. Notably, Venkataraman Ramakrishnan, a scientist of Indian descent, and two other scientists, Thomas Stage and Ada Yonath, were awarded the Nobel Prize in 2009 for their outstanding research on the structure and inhibitors of the ribosome.
In 2009, Venkataraman Ramakrishnan, a scientist of Indian descent, and two other scientists, Thomas Stage and Ada Ionath, were awarded the Nobel Prize for outstanding research on the structure and inhibitors of ribosomes.
Science. Org. In: Wow! Then there is no problem. With all these antibiotics, then all the harmful bacteria can be killed. The body will be disease-free.
Debnath: But the problem is elsewhere. Suppose I want to kill the bacteria by attacking the ribosome of the bacteria. But ribosomes are not just bacteria. The human body also has ribosomes. In that case, there is a possibility of minor damage to human body cells. Again, the bacteria themselves are rapidly developing resistance to the antibiotics we make day after day. So we have to make more and more powerful antibiotics all the time, but we also have to ensure that it does not cause any particular harm to the human body. So we have to attack something that is basically in the body cells of bacteria. So the target is the cell wall of the bacteria. Because in our body cells but there is no cell wall. However, there is a problem in this case. All the bacteria present in our bodies are no longer harmful. There are also many beneficial bacteria in the body. If they attack the cell wall, they will die too! However, if you notice one thing, you can see that doctors say to eat yogurt and probiotics nowadays, after taking antibiotics. What happens is that at least a few classes of beneficial bacteria grow in our body again !. But even that is very little.
Science. Org. In: Is that so? The matter is fascinating. Debnath: Hmm. So. This resistance to antibiotics first came to the fore in the seventies. Conventional penicillin antibiotics are no longer working to cure a bacterial infection called Streptococcus in a patient in a village in Papua New Guinea. In the nineties, this resistance was seen in many more bacterial infections. Scientists frowned. Searching for the cause, a team of scientists found that the bacteria had developed a special weapon called the beta-lactamase enzyme to counteract penicillin antibiotics. This enzymatic hydrolysis reaction breaks down the beta-lactam ring, the central structural unit of antibiotics of the genus Penicillin. As a result, antibiotics become paralyzed. I can't work anymore. And the bacteria that can develop this resistance against any antibiotics are called "superbugs."
And the role of molecular machines or secretion systems in this situation is even more daunting. Bacteria use them to carry their antibiotic resistance to other bacteria by connecting. As a result, the number of superbugs continues to increase, and those antibiotics' usability declines. Against so many people কত how long can it last ?? Science. Org. In: So the way ?? Debnath: The method is to fight against all these superbugs. One of the strategies in this fight is to find out the structure and function of the molecular machines or secretion systems of the bacterial cells and make drugs against them. So another great advantage of this molecular machine analysis is that the structure or functioning of this molecular machine is different but depending on the bacteria. As a result, harmful bacteria can be easily identified, and antidotes can be prepared against them. Science.
Suppose we somehow "immobilize" the cellular components of a human being so quickly in a "vitrification" way. In that case, if we remove that "immobile" state long after, even a few thousand years later, we will see that the human being returned to its former state. Come on, Divya can walk. There is also a method known as electron-cryotomography. In this case, the whole structure of the bacterial secretion system in the cell is analyzed with the help of an electron microscope by immobilizing all the components of the bacterial cell in the method of "vitrification." This method is called Instituto Structural Biology. In my research, I am trying to do just that. By the way, the idea of making the cellular material "motionless" is quite interesting. Suppose we somehow "immobilize" the cellular components of a human being so quickly in a "vitrification" way. In that case, if we remove that "immobile" state long after, even a few thousand years later, we will see that the human being returned to its former state.
Come on, Divya can walk. But yes, this is possible only when we can vitrify the water molecules in all our cells, meaning that the water molecules will freeze but will not be equipped with a three-dimensional arrangement like ice. Science. Org. In: Wow, this is science fiction. So what kind of research is being done on the structure and function of this molecular machine, or how much progress has been made in this regard?
This does not mean that if you want to research microbiology, you have to study microbiology. Science. Org. In: I want to know one thing. Do physicists come to such work? Debnath: Haha. My boss is a physicist. My Ph.D. supervisor was a man of chemistry. In fact, in such research, physics, chemistry, mathematics, biology are closely intertwined. One of the most important instruments used in this study is cryo-electron microscopes and data collection, angina between real space and Fourier space, etc. Such as knowledge of physics and mathematics knowledge is equally important to analyze that information. I think there is no conflict between the subjects of Science in the fields of higher education and research. Instead, they are moving forward in unison, in cooperation, with one goal - how to build a beautiful, comfortable, healthy future. There is the success of Science; there is the triumph of Science.
P.S. It is a challenging task to eradicate the bacteria that can survive on this Earth after overcoming thousands of obstacles over about 3.6 billion years. Just as we have worked tirelessly year after year to develop one antibiotic after another, so too have they changed their character, structure, and resistance to those antibiotics, becoming increasingly more vital. I don't know where this fight ends. But let us rely on evolution. Let us believe in the emergence of the best. Because, in the end, in the battle for “the struggle for survival,” he survives. Who knows how to fight, who is intelligent, who deserves to stay.
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