I’m not sure why, but pretty much every kid in the world
goes through a “dinosaur phase”. The timing seems to be kid dependent in terms
of age, but without fail, there is a time where they eat, sleep and breathe
dinosaurs and it’s funny as heck when they start pronouncing some of the names
– tyrannosaurus,
triceratops,
and parasaurolophus. You
name it, they try to say it or worse, make you try to say it! My son went through the phase and at 8, still
waffles in his love of reading about, learning about and playing with
dinosaurs. He also likes to correct me
when I say the name wrong….not to worry, as a good parent and lover of microbes,
I shoot back trying to get him to say Trichophyton mentagrophytes or Acinetobacter baumannii. Yep, I’m mature.
goes through a “dinosaur phase”. The timing seems to be kid dependent in terms
of age, but without fail, there is a time where they eat, sleep and breathe
dinosaurs and it’s funny as heck when they start pronouncing some of the names
– tyrannosaurus,
triceratops,
and parasaurolophus. You
name it, they try to say it or worse, make you try to say it! My son went through the phase and at 8, still
waffles in his love of reading about, learning about and playing with
dinosaurs. He also likes to correct me
when I say the name wrong….not to worry, as a good parent and lover of microbes,
I shoot back trying to get him to say Trichophyton mentagrophytes or Acinetobacter baumannii. Yep, I’m mature.
I may have geeked out a little when my worlds collided last
week. I thought “Wow, dinosaurs and bacteria, how cool is that?”. A new study
published in Cell, looked at the evolutionary history of Enterococci. These particularly pesky pathogens (a.k.a. VRE)
have become the bane of our existence in hospitals, with their ability to
become antibiotic resistant and survive in the environment for “eons”. The
researchers analyzed the genomes and behaviours of today’s enterococci and
then “rewound” the clock by tracking through history back to the earliest
existence of this group of bacteria. As
we now know, bacteria have been around virtually ‘forever’. As animals started to emerge from sea to land,
so too did bacteria. As we know, there
are bacteria humans need in order to lead healthy lives and there are also bacteria
that can cause us significant distress.
week. I thought “Wow, dinosaurs and bacteria, how cool is that?”. A new study
published in Cell, looked at the evolutionary history of Enterococci. These particularly pesky pathogens (a.k.a. VRE)
have become the bane of our existence in hospitals, with their ability to
become antibiotic resistant and survive in the environment for “eons”. The
researchers analyzed the genomes and behaviours of today’s enterococci and
then “rewound” the clock by tracking through history back to the earliest
existence of this group of bacteria. As
we now know, bacteria have been around virtually ‘forever’. As animals started to emerge from sea to land,
so too did bacteria. As we know, there
are bacteria humans need in order to lead healthy lives and there are also bacteria
that can cause us significant distress.
The study allows us to better understand what type of
environment bacteria can live in, what they need to survive and what mechanisms
they can develop to ensure survival.
Having a clearer understanding of these requirements, could help us
predict how bacteria will adapt to the use of antibiotics and antimicrobial
agents, such as disinfectants or hand hygiene products.
environment bacteria can live in, what they need to survive and what mechanisms
they can develop to ensure survival.
Having a clearer understanding of these requirements, could help us
predict how bacteria will adapt to the use of antibiotics and antimicrobial
agents, such as disinfectants or hand hygiene products.
It’s interesting, we often talk about learning from our
mistakes. We’re quick to discount
history or listen to our “elders”. A
quote from a recent article
I read on millennials in Harvard Business Review states “We are a generation that is ruthlessly
comparing ourselves with those around us and our role models at the same time.
And if we are not doing something exceptional or don’t feel important and
fulfilled for what we are doing, we have a hard time.” Is this so different from all of us? We want
to learn on our own, we want to prove our worth to others. Perhaps we all need to stop trying to prove
how good we are and spend more time looking back through history. It’s not that we’ll be learning from our
mistakes, it’s that we now have the ability to learn, to understand, to truly
investigate and uncover what happened in the past. Perhaps this is the way we will continue to
survive in the future and win the battle over the bugs! I joked last week in my
“Wives’ Tale” blog that cow manure can treat athlete’s foot. Perhaps studying history will teach us that
we’re trying too hard to come up with new ways of fighting pathogens. Maybe the answer is something far simpler….
mistakes. We’re quick to discount
history or listen to our “elders”. A
quote from a recent article
I read on millennials in Harvard Business Review states “We are a generation that is ruthlessly
comparing ourselves with those around us and our role models at the same time.
And if we are not doing something exceptional or don’t feel important and
fulfilled for what we are doing, we have a hard time.” Is this so different from all of us? We want
to learn on our own, we want to prove our worth to others. Perhaps we all need to stop trying to prove
how good we are and spend more time looking back through history. It’s not that we’ll be learning from our
mistakes, it’s that we now have the ability to learn, to understand, to truly
investigate and uncover what happened in the past. Perhaps this is the way we will continue to
survive in the future and win the battle over the bugs! I joked last week in my
“Wives’ Tale” blog that cow manure can treat athlete’s foot. Perhaps studying history will teach us that
we’re trying too hard to come up with new ways of fighting pathogens. Maybe the answer is something far simpler….
Bugging Off!
Nicole
