Do we need new antibiotics? The search for new targets and new compounds

Resistance to antibiotics and other antimicrobial compounds continues to increase. There are several possibilities for protection against pathogenic microorganisms, for instance, preparation of new vaccines against resistant bacterial strains, use of specific bacteriophages, and searching for new antibiotics. The antibiotic search includes: (1) looking for new antibiotics from nontraditional or less traditional sources, (2) sequencing microbial genomes with the aim of finding genes specifying biosynthesis of antibiotics, (3) analyzing DNA from the environment (metagenomics), (4) reexamining forgotten natural compounds and products of their transformations, and (5) investigating new antibiotic targets in pathogenic bacteria.     

Fluorescent proteins in microbial biotechnology—new proteins and new applications

The recent advances over the past 5 years in the utilisation of fluorescent proteins in microbial biotechnology applications, including recombinant protein production, food processing, and environmental biotechnology, are reviewed. We highlight possible areas where fluorescent proteins currently used in other bioscience disciplines could be adapted for use in biotechnological applications and also outline novel uses for recently developed fluorescent proteins.     

Social behavior and comparative genomics: new genes or new gene regulation?

Molecular analyses of social behavior are distinguished by the use of an unusually broad array of animal models. This is advantageous for a number of reasons, including the opportunity for comparative genomic analyses that address fundamental issues in the molecular biology of social behavior. One issue relates to the kinds of changes in genome structure and function that occur to give rise to social behavior. This paper considers one aspect of this issue, whether social evolution involves new genes, new gene regulation, or both. This is accomplished by briefly reviewing findings from studies of the fish Haplochromis burtoni , the vole Microtus ochrogaster , and the honey bee Apis mellifera , with a more detailed and prospective consideration of the honey bee.     

Neuroinfections and antimicrobials: do we need new molecules or new strategies?

Within last 15 years, analyzing patterns of etiology and resistance in organisms causing neuroinfections, emergence of resistance has been observed in Slovakia in S. haemolyticus to teicoplanin (11%), Ps. aeruginosa and A. baumannii to meropenem (20%) and Candida spp. (non-albicans Candida spp.) to fluconazol (20%). There are no new antibiotics against carbapenem resistant Ps. aeruginosa and Acinetobacter baumannii.     

Laparoscopic total and partial nephrectomy-the new standard?

Laparoscopic radical nephrectomy has been shown in long-term follow-up to provide shorter patient hospitalization and effective cancer control with no significant difference in survival compared with open radical nephrectomy. The major technical issue for success of laparoscopic partial nephrectomy is hemostatic control, and several techniques have been developed to improve control. Laparoscopic partial nephrectomy continues to evolve along two therapeutic technical avenues: hilar clamping with ischemia versus no hilar clamping. The benefits of laparoscopy for the kidney have clearly been demonstrated in terms of less pain, decreased convalescence, and decreased narcotic requirements. With short-term outcomes demonstrating laparoscopic partial nephrectomy as an efficacious procedure, the role of laparoscopic partial nephrectomy should continue to increase.     

Pollen coatings – chimaeric genetics and new functions

Pollen coatings have long been assumed to play a pivotal role in pollen-stigma interactions, but until now little clear evidence supporting such a function has been available. Recently, however, the use of isolated coatings of Brassica sp. in experiments in vivo has unequivocally demonstrated that the pollen coat layer is responsible for activation of the stigmatic surface, and that it contains the male determinant of the self-incompatibility system. Surprisingly, molecular analysis of the Brassica pollen coat reveals this layer to include both sporophytic and gametophytic components, the latter including a family of small highly-charged proteins which interact with stigmatic molecules known to be encoded by the S(incompatibility)-locus. Most recently, work on Brassica and Arabidopsis suggests that the adhesive function of the coating is more complex than suspected and involves both stigmatic factors and the exine surface itself. Despite this new insight into the genetics and function of pollen coatings, the mechanisms by which components of these layers are formed in the tapetum and translocated to the pollen grain surface remain far from clear. Received: 29 November 1999 / Revision accepted: 18 January 2000     

Hippocrates revisited? Old ideals and new realities

Individual genomics has arrived, personal decisions to make use of it are a new reality. What are the implications for the patient-physician relationship? In this article we address three factors that call the traditional concept of confidentiality into question. First, the illusion of absolute data safety, as shown by medical informatics. Second, data sharing as a standard practice in genomics research. Comprehensive data sets are widely accessible. Third, genotyping has become a service that is directly available to consumers. The availability and accessibility of personal health data strongly suggest that the roles in the clinical encounter need to be remodeled. The old ideal of physicians as keepers of confidential information is outstripped by the reality of individuals who decide themselves about the way of using their data.     

Genomics - the new rock and roll?

The end of the beginning of the Human Genome Project was announced on 26 June when the working draft or first assembly was announced. Here, Ian Dunham who led the group at the Sanger Centre that produced the first complete sequence of a human chromosome reflects on how it felt to be with the genome project from the beginning.     

The phylogeny,evolutionary developmental biology,and paleobiology of the Deuterostomia: 25 years of new techniques,new discoveries,and new ideas

Over the past 25 years, new techniques, new discoveries, and new ideas have profoundly impacted our understanding of deuterostome interrelationships and, ultimately, deuterostome evolution. During the late 1980s and early 1990s morphological cladistic analyses made predictions about both taxonomic history and homology, predictions that would be tested independent of the morphological characters themselves with the advent of molecular systematics, the rise of evolutionary developmental biology, and continued exploration of the fossil record. Thanks to these three areas of inquiry, we have gone from scenarios where animals like mobile enteropneust hemichordates and chordates were derived from sessile filter-feeding animals like modern lophophorates, echinoderms, and pterobranch hemichordates, to a new perspective where hemichordates are recognized as the nearest living relative of the echinoderms, and that vagile gill-bearing animals like Cambrian vetulicolians are seen—at least by some—as close to the deuterostome last common ancestor, with both sessility and filter-feeding convergent features of deuterostomes (e.g., echinoderm) and non-deuterostomes (e.g., lophophorates) alike. Although much of the backbone of the new deuterostome phylogeny is supported by multiple independent data sets, as are statements of homology of several different morphological characters, in particular the homology of gill slits across Deuterostomia, nonetheless, the next quarter century of study on this remarkable group of animals promises to be as equally illuminating and exciting as the past quarter century.     

Liver metastases and SBRT: A new paradigm?

BackgroundThe outstanding innovations made by early diagnosis, novel surgical techniques, effective chemotherapy regimens and conformal radiotherapy, have significantly improved patients overall survival and quality of life. Multidisciplinary approach to cancer has also led to an increased prevalence of patients with few, organ-confined metastases, who can experience long-term survival even if their disease is no longer localized. Liver is one of the most common site for metastatic disease from several cancers, and when metastatic disease is confined to liver, given the ability of this organ to regenerate almost to its optimal volume, surgical resection represents the standard of care because is associated with a better prognosis. Approximately 70–90% of liver metastases, however, are unresectable and a safe, effective alternative therapeutic option is necessary for these patients.Materials and methodsA review of the current literature was performed to analyze the role of SBRT in treating liver metastases from different cancers. A literature search using the terms “SBRT” and “liver metastases” was carried out in PUBMED.ResultsStereotactic body radiation therapy has shown to provide promising results in the treatment of liver metastases, thanks to the ability of this procedure to deliver a conformal high dose of radiation to the target lesion and a minimal dose to surrounding critical tissues.ConclusionStereotactic body radiation therapy is a non-invasive, well-tolerated and effective treatment for patients with liver metastases not suitable for surgical resection.     

Confused about NMDA and addiction? Targeted knockouts provide answers and new questions

NMDA-dependent plasticity in VTA dopamine neurons has been hypothesized to be an important first step in the development of long-term changes in the brain reward circuitry that underlie addiction. Two papers from Zweifel et al. and Engblom et al. in this issue of Neuron raise new questions concerning the role of NMDA receptors within VTA dopamine neurons in mediating the behavioral effects of drugs of abuse.