NDM-1 superbug enzyme's 'photofit' taken

The structure of the protein which stops some of medicine's most powerful antibiotics working has been determined by researchers.

Bacteria which make NDM-1 are of growing concern to health professionals.

The protein has larger "jaws" which allow it to attack more antibiotics than other enzymes.

It is hoped drug companies will be able to use the chemical structure to design new drugs.

Carbapenem antibiotics are considered the last line of defence against resistant bacteria. However, some are now resistant even to these drugs.

The article goes on to say :

Prof Simon Phillips, part of the Medical Research Council study at the Research Complex at Harwell, said: "It is like getting a photofit of a criminal so the police can go after it."

He said NDM-1 belonged to a class of enzymes which break down antibiotics. Most of these enzymes cannot attack carbapenems because their active sites - or jaws - are too small. However, NDM-1's active site is a little bit bigger and can destroy carbapenems.

This is scary news . I dont think we will ever get the upper hand on mother nature, she is allways one step ahead of us.

Well if we humans wise up and stop killing the beneficial bacteria in our systems and stop relying on chemicals, our bodies will build up stronger resistances.

It's our dependency on 'modern chemistry' that is destroying us.

As you said, mother nature is a force to be feared.
Our bodies itself is mother nature at work, we just have to trust in the balanced system.

It may take a little bit of time... But our bodies can do it.

Back when I was in High School, my science teacher had always told us to let our bodies weather out most viruses if it can. It will allow our bodies to build up immunities against them so that the next time we are hit with it, it won't be as bad.
He was right because I am rarely sick and when I am, doesn't last very long.

The problem with this idea, is people CAN'T miss work for a couple days or in some cases, even one day.
The current financial system we have buried ourselves in, will also kill us in our health...
Quite amusing.

reply to post by Sovaka


it is no coincidence, it is by design,

and it results in much misery and tragedy worldwide daily,

that amuses you? that things were orchestrated to such a high level of suffering worldwide, that amuses you?

reply to post by pryingopen3rdeye


Yes it does amuse me.
Because we have the power to stop it, yet we do nothing but sit idle and watch.

Some of us have taken actions to limit our exposure on the commercial system as possible, but so many people remain ignorant with no desire to learn or find out.
Then when something happens, they bitch and whine like it was somehow not their own fault.

The sooner we all pick ourselves up out of this reliance on government, the fast food industry and big pharma... The better.

reply to post by Sovaka

My mother, a nurse, always told us not to be so germophobic. She said that low-level exposure to germs actually caused the body to familiarize itself with them, so as to be able to effectively fight them.

When I watch the commercials on TV that claim some product or another kills "99.9% of bacteria," it just saddens me. What do people think happens to the 0.1% that the product doesn't kill? The more it doesn't kill them, the stronger they get. (I'm also put in mind of a survey that someone took that asked people what percentage of germs their antibacterial product should kill. They almost unanimously answered: 99.9%! Wonder where they got that?)

So hello supergerms....

Edit to add: I've been seeing a commercial recently that shows kids with the--you know, the enhanced "teeming-with-germs effect" graphics of their hands. The product they're selling is an antibacterial soap with a pump that's antibacterial so that it kills the bacteria of the kid that touched it previously. Well... presumably 99.9% of the bacteria of the kid that touched it previously. Swear to God.

reply to post by Ex_CT2


Exactly, and science recently has found that certain bacteria in soil kills cancer cells...

Now I am not advocating going out and eating a handful of Earth, but this is just one example of the beneficial bacteria that is out there that we are told to destroy.

There are many many more that we need in our diet to sustain a healthy life.
This is why we need to stay off the chems.