Tag Archives: gut

Microbes Spread Antibiotic Resistance One Bee at a Time

Photo courtesy Christopher Bang.

The World Health Organization has called antibiotic resistance “a global crisis we can’t ignore,” one that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimate kills 23,000 people annually in the U.S. alone.

Now, honeybee research could offer clues as to how it spreads.

Read/listen to my full story at KJZZ’s Arizona Science Desk:
Honeybee Research Hints At How Microbes Spread Antibiotic Resistance

Fecal transplants: One man’s trash…

C. diff photo
Scanning electron micrograph of C. diff, courtesy CDC

Accepting a transplant of someone else’s stool might sound extreme, but it might just be the next big thing in medicine, thanks in part to a potentially deadly stomach bug called Clostridium difficile.

C. diff, an emerging epidemic in hospitals and nursing homes that tears through the gut like Sherman through Georgia, has grown increasingly virulent and antibiotic-resistant in recent years. For many sufferers, fecal microbiota transplantation offers hope when all else fails. Can we get over the “ick factor” when our lives are on the line? You bet we can.

How Fecal Transplants Work