In order to fight against “super-bacteria”, a team of researchers has developed an algorithm that predicts their mutations.
The “super-bacteria” pose more and more problems every year. These antibiotic-resistant bacteria – such as Staphylococcus aureus, for example – significantly complicate the fight against infections, even the most common such as pneumonia or urinary tract infections. This is because these bacteria tend to mutate and become resistant to drugs that were previously effective against them. In the United States, Staphylococcus aureus kills nearly 20,000 people each year. It’s more than HIV.
In order to stay one step ahead of super-bacteria, a team of researchers decided to use the computing power of computers. This team has thus created a computer algorithm in order to predict the counter-attacks of super-bacteria which evolve in perpetuity.
Predict the most likely mutations
This program, called OSPREY, predicts the most likely mutations a bacteria might develop when confronted with a new type of medicine, such as explains a study published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. The researchers tested OSPREY on the multidrug resistant bacteria of Staphylococcus aureus: MRSA (methicillin resistant Staphylococcus aureus).
The researchers have thus programmed their software in such a way that it predicts the genetic mutations that the bacterium would undergo in order to become resistant to a new class of drugs still in experimentation: the “propargyl-linked antifolates”, presented as promising against infections with MRSA. When the researchers exposed Staphylococcus aureus to these new drugs, they observed the genetic changes the software predicted.
Get a head start on super bacteria
“This allows us to see in advance how a bacteria will resist the drugs that we develop, before they are deployed,” says Bruce Donald, professor of computer science and biochemistry at Duke University, and the author of the study.
The team hopes this approach will give researchers a head start in the race against super bacteria. The aim of this research is to increase the shelf life of developing drugs. The software was created in such a way open-source, that is, it is accessible free of charge (for researchers).
The Minister of Health, Marisol Touraine announced, Monday, November 17, the creation of a working group for the preservation of antibiotics, which will have to formulate, by June 2015, proposals to reduce the incidence of infections with multiresistant bacteria and promote the development of new anti-infectious molecules.
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