Cambridge’s River Cam may help fight certain diseases
Rushda:
September 24th, 2007
The River Cam in Cambridge is well known, especially amongst the students, for punting and lazing on the banks, and indeed many of us cross it every day without a second thought. However, recent studies have found that the river contains certain viruses which may actually help combat serious infectious diseases such as MRSA.
A whole bunch of special viruses have been found in the river lately which have been said to be able to treat stomach infections in mice. This is great news as eventually they could be used as antibiotics in medicine for human use. The viruses, known as bacteriophages, were isolated from the water and tested by scientists at the Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute. The results show that a bacteriophage attaches itself to a bacterial cell and effectively explodes it, but leaves healthy cells intact. The effect is particularly striking when different types of bacteriophages are combined.
As Dr Pickard from the research team explains, the river Cam is particular suited to finding these viruses because of the ideal water environment. He believes that scientists can eventually isolate the viruses for human use and they be very helpful in fighting antibiotic-resistant diseases such as MRSA. He says:
“Conventional antibiotic treatment has led to MRSA and other superbug infections becoming not only more prevalent but also more infectious and dangerous. Bacteriophage therapy offers an alternative that needs to be taken more seriously in Western Europe.”
As a Cambridge student who’s always seen the river Cam as nothing but dirty, the news that it holds special disease-fighting secrets comes as a huge and welcoming surprise.