Read Online Altered Genes: Genesis by Mark Kelly - Free Book Online Page B
Authors: Mark Kelly
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class to stop by during office hours.”
Before he could answer, she edged her way past him and slid into the office. He sighed and closed the door.
“It’s as good a time as any. Have a seat.”
She moved quickly and sat down in front of his desk with her backpack on the floor. Seeing his computer, she leaned forward to sneak a peek.
“What are you working on?”
He snapped the lid of the laptop closed and sat. “Just reviewing a protein sequence, nothing too interesting. What can I do for you, Ms. Rice?”
She leaned back in her chair, not at all embarrassed at being caught snooping.
“I’d like to finish our conversation?”
“Conversation?”
“About antibiotic resistance,” she reminded him.
Seriously…now? He thought about telling her he was too busy but decided to just get it over with.
He slumped forward in his chair and folded his hands together on the top of the desk. “What would you like to know?”
She shrugged. “You know—superbugs…that kind of stuff.”
Superbugs…are you kidding me? Maybe I can bore her into leaving.
With a sigh, he stood and walked to the whiteboard that hung on the wall. He took a marker from the tray below it and began to lecture.
“At the most basic level, superbugs are bacteria that are resistant to one or more types of antibiotics. They usually acquire this resistance in one of two ways, either through a mutation or through a gene transfer—like we talked about in class, remember?”
She nodded and he continued. “That, by itself is a problem but an equally large problem is the supply of new antibiotics is nearly depleted.”
“So you see, Miss Rice, it’s a perfect storm. On one hand, infectious bacteria are acquiring resistance to existing antibiotics and on the other hand, no new antibiotics are being discovered. There are a number of deadly superbugs. Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus is one. It causes skin infections and can be deadly if it gets into your bloodstream. There’s a form of tuberculosis called XDR that is resistant to treatment. STEC is a strain of E. coli that produces Shiga toxin. I could go on. The list gets longer every day.”
He put the marker down and walked back to his desk, hoping that was enough for her.
It wasn’t. She pointed to a framed magazine cover on the wall above his bookshelf. His picture was on the cover. The title above it read, ‘ Code Cracker’.
“What code did you crack? Are you famous?”
He followed her outstretched arm and cringed.
“No, I’m not famous. Magazines like catchy titles, the article is about a discovery I made on how certain types of bacteria develop antibiotic resistance.”
She rose from her chair and walked over to take a closer look at the framed picture.
“Wow…that’s exciting, just like what we were talking about. Do you have a copy I can read?”
He groaned inside and walked over to join her by the bookshelf.
Not sure what she’ll do with it but maybe if I give her one, she’ll leave. He rummaged though a pile of magazines and pulled one out. “I have extra copies, you can keep this one.”
She took it and he stood with his hands on his hips, watching as she studied the cover and flipped the magazine open.
“I don’t know if you’ll find it interesting. The article is quite technical.”
“What’s fluoro…quino…lone?” she pointed to a word in the subtitle.
“Fluoroquinolone,” he corrected. “It’s an antibiotic like Colistin. It’s also widely used in animals.
Suddenly, Gore’s final words came back to him. “ Nothing knocks it down,” the Brit had said.
Damn! I’ve been looking in the wrong place, he thought and ran to his desk. He flipped opened his laptop, his eyes darted across the screen. He began to talk to himself. “I should have been looking at gene regions that enable antibiotic resistance.”
His fingers flickered across the computer’s keyboard as he rearranged the alphabet soup of letters and numbers in the
Before he could answer, she edged her way past him and slid into the office. He sighed and closed the door.
“It’s as good a time as any. Have a seat.”
She moved quickly and sat down in front of his desk with her backpack on the floor. Seeing his computer, she leaned forward to sneak a peek.
“What are you working on?”
He snapped the lid of the laptop closed and sat. “Just reviewing a protein sequence, nothing too interesting. What can I do for you, Ms. Rice?”
She leaned back in her chair, not at all embarrassed at being caught snooping.
“I’d like to finish our conversation?”
“Conversation?”
“About antibiotic resistance,” she reminded him.
Seriously…now? He thought about telling her he was too busy but decided to just get it over with.
He slumped forward in his chair and folded his hands together on the top of the desk. “What would you like to know?”
She shrugged. “You know—superbugs…that kind of stuff.”
Superbugs…are you kidding me? Maybe I can bore her into leaving.
With a sigh, he stood and walked to the whiteboard that hung on the wall. He took a marker from the tray below it and began to lecture.
“At the most basic level, superbugs are bacteria that are resistant to one or more types of antibiotics. They usually acquire this resistance in one of two ways, either through a mutation or through a gene transfer—like we talked about in class, remember?”
She nodded and he continued. “That, by itself is a problem but an equally large problem is the supply of new antibiotics is nearly depleted.”
“So you see, Miss Rice, it’s a perfect storm. On one hand, infectious bacteria are acquiring resistance to existing antibiotics and on the other hand, no new antibiotics are being discovered. There are a number of deadly superbugs. Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus is one. It causes skin infections and can be deadly if it gets into your bloodstream. There’s a form of tuberculosis called XDR that is resistant to treatment. STEC is a strain of E. coli that produces Shiga toxin. I could go on. The list gets longer every day.”
He put the marker down and walked back to his desk, hoping that was enough for her.
It wasn’t. She pointed to a framed magazine cover on the wall above his bookshelf. His picture was on the cover. The title above it read, ‘ Code Cracker’.
“What code did you crack? Are you famous?”
He followed her outstretched arm and cringed.
“No, I’m not famous. Magazines like catchy titles, the article is about a discovery I made on how certain types of bacteria develop antibiotic resistance.”
She rose from her chair and walked over to take a closer look at the framed picture.
“Wow…that’s exciting, just like what we were talking about. Do you have a copy I can read?”
He groaned inside and walked over to join her by the bookshelf.
Not sure what she’ll do with it but maybe if I give her one, she’ll leave. He rummaged though a pile of magazines and pulled one out. “I have extra copies, you can keep this one.”
She took it and he stood with his hands on his hips, watching as she studied the cover and flipped the magazine open.
“I don’t know if you’ll find it interesting. The article is quite technical.”
“What’s fluoro…quino…lone?” she pointed to a word in the subtitle.
“Fluoroquinolone,” he corrected. “It’s an antibiotic like Colistin. It’s also widely used in animals.
Suddenly, Gore’s final words came back to him. “ Nothing knocks it down,” the Brit had said.
Damn! I’ve been looking in the wrong place, he thought and ran to his desk. He flipped opened his laptop, his eyes darted across the screen. He began to talk to himself. “I should have been looking at gene regions that enable antibiotic resistance.”
His fingers flickered across the computer’s keyboard as he rearranged the alphabet soup of letters and numbers in the
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