US EditionBacteria Frozen 5,000 Years in Romanian Cave Resists 10 Antibiotics
The Psychrobacter SC65A.3 strain from 5,000-year-old cave ice resists 10 antibiotics and carries 100+ resistance genes, posing risks and offering biotechnological potentials.
- Today the Institute of Biology Bucharest published a Frontiers in Microbiology study documenting Psychrobacter SC65A.3 isolated from 5,000-year-old Scărișoara Ice Cave ice and tested for antibiotic resistance.
- The team drilled a 25-meter ice core from the Great Hall, kept ice fragments sterile, isolated strains in the lab, and sequenced genomes to link genes to cold survival and antimicrobial activity.
- Genomic analysis found over 100 resistance-related genes and almost 600 genes of unknown function, with resistance to ten modern antibiotics including ciprofloxacin, and 1 gene with antimicrobial potential.
- Scientists warned melting ice could release resistance genes into modern bacteria, while researchers say enzymes and antimicrobial compounds offer biotech potential and call for lab safety and further research.
- With warming glaciers and caves, researchers say the findings raise urgent global questions as climate change and thawing frozen environments could reawaken dormant microbes, while antibiotic resistance causes 1.27 million deaths annually, underscoring the need for monitoring ancient genomes and evolutionary insight.
40 Articles
40 Articles
There are some important nuances.
In a Romanian ice cave, researchers discover an ancient bacterium that is resistant to many modern antibiotics. However, the pathogen does not only present great dangers for global health, but also new opportunities for medicine.
The ancient ice layer in the Aranyosfői Cave gives researchers a unique opportunity to map the genes of microorganisms adapted to the cold.
mannheim24.de
op-online.deAn ancient bacterium not only shows threatening resistance to today's antibiotics, but also has an unexpected potential against dangerous super germs.
Bacteria found in underground cave after thousands of years is resistant to antibiotics: study
Researchers say a strain of bacteria, encased in an underground ice cave for at least 5,000 years, has been found to be resistant to modern antibiotics despite never encountering them. Scientists say the discovery brings both risks and benefits.
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