Scientists doing scientific experiments in the biosafety cabinet of the laboratory .
Scientists have discovered bacteria frozen in an ancient underground ice cave, which is resistant against 10 modern antibiotics.
Ice caves host a variety of micro-organisms, which if melted could add to the challenge of antibiotic resistance.
But researchers say they could also help us develop new strategies to prevent the rise of antibiotic resistance caused by the overuse of the drugs, which is making them less effective.
The bacteria found in a 5,000-year-old layer of ice inside a cave in Romania, is called psychrobacter SC65A.3, a type of bacteria adapted to cold environments that can cause infections in animals and humans.
Bacterial strains like the one examined by researchers hold both a threat and a promise. “If melting ice releases these microbes, these genes could spread to modern bacteria, adding to the global challenge of antibiotic resistance,” said study author Dr Cristina Purcarea, a senior scientist at the Institute of Biology Bucharest of the Romanian Academy.
“On the other hand, they produce unique enzymes and antimicrobial compounds that could inspire new antibiotics, industrial enzymes and other biotechnological innovations.”
For the study, published in Frontiers in Microbiology, researchers drilled a 25-metre piece of ice from an area of the cave known as the Great Hall, representing a 13,000-year timeline.
Ice fragments were taken back to a lab where researchers studied various bacterial strains and and sequenced their genome to determine which genes allow the strain to survive in low temperatures and which confer antimicrobial resistance and activity.
“Studying microbes such as psychrobacter SC65A.3 retrieved from millennia-old cave ice deposits reveals how antibiotic resistance evolved naturally in the environment, long before modern antibiotics were ever used,” Dr Purcarea added.
Researchers tested the strain against 28 antibiotics from 10 classes that are routinely used to or reserved for treating bacterial infections, including antibiotics that were found to be resistant.