Devyani Goswami, Amity University Kolkata
Another threat to human civilization apart from the current COVID-19 situation is the growing risk of antibiotic-resistant bacteria due to overuse and un-prescribed consumption of antibiotics. An annual death of more than 2 million all across the globe made researchers find out a solution on how to control this risk. Though to detect the proper antibiotic-resistant bacteria can take more than three days. For reducing this time, a simple, inexpensive, and rapid method has introduced through the use of this new device, having the capability of detecting the type of antibiotic-resistant bacteria within 5 hours.
The researchers claimed this device to be the first of its kind. The purpose of this project was to effectively treat the infection by selecting the right antibiotics with the exact dose for the appropriate duration.
The methodology of the study involves the sample obtained from the patient and inoculating the bacteria with various antibiotics over a few hours, and then this device will measure the electron transfer rate. The lower the frequency, the higher the efficiency of the antibiotics. The exposure of the antiviral causes sufficient inhibition to the bacterial electron transfer would be sensitive enough to show small variations in the electrical output due to the changes in the antibiotic effectiveness. The signals are sensitized by directly measuring the total energy or the accumulated microbial electricity generated by microbial fuel cells (MFCs) arranged in a large capacity disposable paper-based test tube.
Developing an antibiotic susceptibility testing method and other guidelines to treat these infections is the need of the hour. Many bacteria do not perform extracellular electron transfer, even though they are energy-producing bacterias. Thus such bacterias cannot be detected using this device. Certain chemical compounds can help in assisting the electron transfer from non-electricity- producing bacteria. The researchers are hence focusing on finding a way to make this technique general for all kinds of bacteria.
Also read: Viruses in the air – Biosensor detection!
Source:
1) New device offers faster way to detect antibiotic resistance bacteria
https://scitechdaily.com/new-device-offers-faster-way-to-detect-antibiotic-resistance-bacteria/
2) A simple, inexpensive, and rapid method to assess antibiotic effectiveness against exo-electrogenic bacteria
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