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Nuclear meltdowns. Oil spills. More strife in Africa and the
Middle East. GMO tainted crops. So what else could happen?
Unfortunately, another problem has surfaced that has scientists
calling for the "urgent need for global action". This time, it's
worrisome news about a gene that turns bacteria into not just
superbugs -- but SUPER superbugs.
Bottom line: this gene (dubbed the New Delhi metallo-s-lactamase
1 gene, NDM-1, for short) enables bacteria to resist virtually
any and perhaps all antibiotics.
These multidrug-resistant bacteria have been found in public
water supplies and urban effluent in New Delhi. But this isn't a
problem limited to India. While researchers writing in the
latest issue of the journal Lancet say the findings in India
pose the worrisome possibility that NDM-1 is widespread in the
environment of that country, there are plenty of reasons to be
concerned the bacteria could be spreading to other parts of the
planet.
Mohd Shahid from Jawaharlal Nehru Medical College and Hospital
in Uttar Pradesh, India, warns in an accompanying article that
the potential for the global spread of bacteria with the super
dangerous NDM-1 gene ".. is real and should not be
ignored...coordinated, concrete, and collective efforts are
needed, initially to limit their widespread dissemination, and
finally to combat this emerging threatening resistance problem."