MontlakeBlog

Many of us don’t think twice about the medications we take to fight what ails us or of our constant use of antibacterial lotions and potions, but a growing number of bacterial strains are becoming resistant to these weapons and our health may hang in the balance.

Bacteria can live in a myriad of environments, including within humans and domestic animals. Unfortunately, as bacteria are exposed to antibiotics, resistant strains can proliferate and resistance genes can be transferred to other strains. This process leads to the emergence of new strains that are resistant to over a dozen antibiotics. Now with a $1.2 million grant from the National Institutes of Health, researchers Shira Broschat, professor of electrical engineering and computer science, and Douglas Call, associate professor of veterinary microbiology and pathology, along with Thomas Besser (professor, WSU) and Eva Top (professor, University of Idaho), are examining this problem on the molecular level, trying to figure out how antibiotic resistance is disseminated and how multi-drug resistance groups are assembled through examination of plasmid samples from different hosts in different locations.

Plasmids are extrachromosomal DNA elements that play a role in the dissemination of antibiotic resistance and other traits that are important for bacterial survival in environmental and clinical settings. Plasmids also have mosaic compositions that can readily change through time, although at present researchers do not know the rules by which these changes occur. Of particular interest to Broschat and Call are the plasmids that host an antibiotic-resistant gene that confers resistance to third generation cephalosporins, some of the most widely used antibiotics available.

“Most engineering research deals with the laws of physics, so I’m used to working with ‘truth’,” said Broschat. “Now I’m working with the laws of bacteria, but we don’t know what the laws are—yet. It’s going to take collaborations between technology experts and microbiologists to figure out what these laws are, and my students and I want to be at the interface where we’re doing something that makes a difference. It’s going to take collaborations between technology experts and microbiologists to figure out what these laws are, and my students and I want to be at the interface where we‘re doing something that makes a difference.”

Broschat and Call’s goal is to develop the tools necessary to study how the composition of antibiotic resistance plasmids changes through time. “Some of the broad implications of this research are to understand why plasmids persist and disseminate amongst humans and animals,” said Call. “This could have both policy and public health implications.”

So what are some of the problems we face with antibiotic-resistant bacteria? Some bacteria are already resistant to 12 or more antibiotics, which carries broad societal implications like higher mortality rates and greater pressure on hospital resources. In fact, the CDC released a statement in October 2007 regarding this issue. Staphylococcus aureus, best known for causing staph infections, is one of the bacteria that has become resistant to traditional antibiotics. The antibiotic-resistant form of Staph is known as methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA). MRSA occurs most frequently among those who undergo invasive medical procedures or who have weakened immune systems and are being treated in hospitals or other healthcare facilities. However, MRSA can also infect people in the community, generally displaying symptoms like skin rashes, pimples, or boils. Transmission occurs via contaminated hands that have not been washed with soap and water or alcohol-based hand sanitizers.

The main problem we face with MRSA is that with increased resistance to and overuse of basic antibiotics, people infected with MRSA require treatment with second-or third-choice medications that may be less effective and more expensive for the patient. “I tell everyone to use triple-acting antibiotic ointment on all their cuts now,” noted Broschat.

What is also of concern is that the overall incidence rate of MRSA in 2006 was about 32 invasive infections per 100,000 people. Based on current projections, the annual death toll due to MRSA may soon exceed that of AIDS in the United States.

Broschat and Call hope that through their collaborative efforts we will know more about the rules that govern the assemblage of increasingly prevalent “superbugs.”

In conjunction with Broschat’s research with Douglas Call, she also teaches “Concepts in Biotechnology,” which introduces EECS students to biology and biotechnology with the idea that the more you know about what biologists do, the better you can do your job as an engineer or computer scientist in the biotechnology industry. “People understand that biotechnology plays an important role in our future—in agriculture, healthcare, the food industry, and medicine,” said Broschat. “But a lot of people don’t understand what biotechnology is.”

Engineering and computer science can do their part to advance biotechnology by developing the tools, equipment, and software needed by biologists. An early example of this is the development of microscopy and the subsequent discovery of bacteria. Half of Broschat’s course lectures cover different topics in biology while the other half covers biotechnology and its applications. Broschat is learning alongside her students the nuances of a different science discipline. “When we talk about vectors in engineering, we’re referring to a mathematical quantity, but in biology a vector refers to a causative, carrying agent—for example, mosquitoes are the vector for malaria,” she said.

Broschat hopes that with an increase in breadth, the fields of engineering and computer science as a whole will positively impact our future. “We need multidisciplinary approaches to solve our most pressing problems, so it’s important to prepare our students for the multidisciplinary aspects of engineering,” she said.