New Antibiotics from Treated Wastewater
Published on by Water Network Research, Official research team of The Water Network in Academic
UNCC study: Treated wastewater may be creating new antibiotics
Wastewater treatment is designed to break down biological substances but not antibiotics," said Keen. "Surprisingly enough, though, we are finding in the lab that not only is chlorine not breaking down antibiotics, but it is actually creating even stronger antibiotics than the original doxycycline.
"Wastewater tests have found every type of antibiotic known," Keen said. "The problems antibiotics cause when they are not broken down by treatment is they get into streams, where bacteria are becoming immune to them, and more dangerous, super bug, bacteria can be formed."
Clemson process expands biomarker options
Great news for patients who get the willies when the nurse pulls out the needle to draw blood. A method developed at Clemson University could help make it possible to use urine instead of blood to test for more diseases. Proteins in urine, for example, could help detect early signs of coronary heart disease, or whether the body is rejecting a transplanted kidney.
The trouble with testing urine is that it's awash in salt, said Ken Marcus a professor of analytical chemistry: It can be tricky to isolate the proteins that act as biomarkers - the clues that tell whether the patient is sick or has ingested a drug.
The magic ingredient in the group's research looks like kite string, but is made of capillary-channeled polymer fibers. Marcus and his students packed the fibers into plastic tubes and then passed urine samples through the tubes by spinning them in a centrifuge for 30 seconds. Then the researchers ran de-ionized water through the tubes for a minute to wash off salt and other contaminants.
Proteins are hydrophobic: They remained stuck to the fibers. Researchers extracted the proteins by running a solvent through the tubes in the centrifuge, and were left with purified proteins that could be stored in a plastic vial and refrigerated until it's time for testing. The team was able to extract 12 samples in about 5 minutes, limited only by centrifuge capacity.
Source: NewsObserver
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