Scientists have successfully mapped the genetic code of 3,000 harmful bacteria. This is done in an effort to fight super bacteria that have been resistant to antibiotics.
The samples of the studied bacteria are from the UK collection of the National Collection of Type Cultures (NCTC). This collection stores at least 5,500 bacteria.
Two of these are the Shigella flexneri strains that caused dysentery among World War I soldiers and bacteria infecting the nose of Alexander Fleming, the inventor of penicillin.
Their results have been published on the NCTC website and can be accessed free of charge by scientists around the world who want to develop diagnostic, vaccine, and treatment tools for super bacteria.
Julian Parkhill, lead researcher from the Wellcome Sanger Institute, said knowing exactly how bacterial forms were before and after the presence of antibiotics and vaccines, then compared them with current strains shows how they respond to treatment.
"This will help us develop new antibiotics and vaccines," he said.
You need to know, super bacteria are being a big problem and expected to get worse. According to estimates by researchers, about 70 percent of the bacteria that infect humans have been immune to one type of antibiotic.
Examples of bacteria that are most at risk are tuberculosis and gonorrhea.
Tuberculosis or tuberculosis occurs due to Mycobacterium tuberculosis infection that attacks the lungs. Symptoms include cough, fever, loss of appetite, bleeding cough, and chest pain. It infects 10.4 million people annually and kills 1.7 million people by 2016.
Meanwhile, gonorrhea or gonorrhea that infects 78 million people each year is declared by the World Health Organization (WHO), is becoming increasingly difficult to cure.
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