Bacteria in medicine
The future of medicine is in microbiome management
Sergey Kolenov, Hi-tech+
Dozens of biotech companies are trying to develop new drugs and treatments based on symbiotic bacteria. Soon this intense competition will begin to bear its first fruits.
Recent studies have shown that symbiotic bacteria, including those inhabiting the intestines, play an important role both in maintaining our health and in the development of many dangerous diseases – for example, depression and Alzheimer's disease. So far, doctors do not have an accurate tool for managing the microbiome, but the situation is changing rapidly.
According to Popular Mechanics, about 100 biotech companies have already invested in the research of symbiotic bacteria. They are testing four main approaches:
1) restoration of natural microbial communities disrupted as a result of inflammatory bowel diseases;
2) targeted destruction of unwanted bacterial species;
3) creation of artificial bacteria to deliver the necessary compounds to the microbiome;
4) the use of molecules through which intestinal bacteria affect the brain and the immune system.
The use of these techniques will help neutralize some diseases associated with an unhealthy lifestyle, for example, type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular diseases. However, first you need to figure out exactly how microbiome disorders cause certain diseases.
One of the leaders in the growing market of manipulations with symbiotic bacteria is the young Danish company Snipr Biome. The startup plans to use CRISPR gene editing to target pathogenic bacteria. This is a futuristic and very elegant technology. The company's representatives expect that the first clinical trials will take place within two years.
However, the direct destruction of unwanted microorganisms is not the only way to return the intestinal ecosystem to normal.
For example, the dangerous bacterium Clostridium difficile, which is fixed in the body with excessive use of antibiotics, can be defeated with the help of fecal transplants with fragments of healthy microflora.
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