Israeli Researchers Discover Why Bacteria Are Becoming Tolerant to Antibiotics

Using the quantitative approach of physicists, they learn that bacteria can quickly evolve to predict exactly when exposure to antibiotics will occur

By: Michael Lefkoe, NoCamels, on ShalomLife.com
It has been nearly nine decades since Sir Alexander Fleming’s accidental discovery of Penicillin at his Paddington laboratory in 1928, and today well over a hundred different types of antibiotics exist for numerous bacterial infections. A growing concern in modern medicine, however, is the ability of pathogenic bacteria to evolve strategies for overcoming antibiotic treatments. Many antibiotics such as ampicillin and erythromycin, for example, which used to kill off whole bacterial populations with great efficacy, are now capable of much less due to this alarming phenomenon of bacterial tolerance.

Researchers at Hebrew University in Jerusalem recently made an important discovery that advances our understanding of how bacteria are able to develop tolerance to antibiotics. Using the quantitative approach of physicists, they discovered that bacteria can quickly evolve to predict exactly when exposure to antibiotics will occur. As a result, the infectious bacteria will learn to lie dormant during the precise period of exposure, giving the population greater chance at survival.

To illustrate this striking phenomenon, consider a patient taking antibiotics on a fixed schedule for some bacterial infection he had the misfortune to develop. Perhaps his doctor told him to take the antibiotics three times a day for ten days, spacing each dosage throughout the day at equal intervals. As this study indicates, the bacteria population may evolve after just a few days to modify its dormancy period to coincide with the duration of antibiotic exposure. To be sure, in the dormant stage nothing is absorbed by the bacteria, not even those “powerful” antibiotics.

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Explaining 'Healthy' to Children in Complex World

By Elizabeth Traison for The Jew and the Carrot

I recently observed the following conversation between a mother and her 2 or 3 year old son. We were all at a coffee shop, I was catching up on some work for my health coaching certification on my iPad and at the table next to me this mother-and-son duo were enjoying an afternoon snack.

The mother had purchased a glass of tea, which came with two paper cups; my coffee came in just one cup. Surprised by the difference, the boy continued to ask further about coffee and tea, not only about the heat discrepancy, but about their essence and identities.

The mother, who admitted to her son that she does drink coffee too, was baffled – taken aback, even – by her son’s curiosity.

“It’s not that coffee is bad for you”, she started slowly, “it’s just not for everyone”. Then she added with inflection, “all of the time”.

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From Couponing in the Holy Land

If you have been in the supermarket recently, you might have seen a sign similar to this one:

Right now, there doesn’t seem to be a lack of produce in the store and the prices are relatively low, but how long will it last? What produce is likely to be the most affected by the war?

You might not realize when we hear that a rocket fell in a “Shetach Patuach” (open area), it means that the missile might have fallen in an agricultural area which has crops or livestock. According to the Ministry of Agriculture, there have been a number of fields and greenhouses damaged from missiles along with 3 poultry houses and 2 dairy farms. Additionally, movement and encampment of Israeli troops around Gaza can also damage fields. Add to the mix the abandonment of foreign workers subsequent to the death of a Thai agricultural worker and the urging of the Thai government to have Thai workers relocated out of danger and there is a serious risk to the ability of the South to provide produce to the supermarkets. A representative of Kibbutz Alumim who was interviewed, however, said that July-August is not that damaging to the fields because it is “between seasons.” There are peppers growing in greenhouses and there are peanuts to be picked in the fields near Ashkelon. The army has built trenches in an area that was just recently their organic carrots field and it will take years to rework the land to be ready to plant again. They aren’t complaining, however, especially considering that next year is a shmita year. Other kibbutzim weren’t able to collect their carrots and they are still laying in the ground. Kibbutz Saad wasn’t able to package their carrots so other kibbutzim helped them.

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Residents of Southern Israel Are Not Leaving their Homes

By KKL-JNF for Jpost.com

Residents of Israel's south talk to KKL-JNF about how they cope under the shadow of rocket fire from Gaza.

As Operation Protective Edge enters its 10th day, rockets from the Gaza Strip continue to rain terror in Israel's south, with sirens wailing from Netivot to Ashkelon. Over the past few days, rockets have reached Israel's central and northern regions, too, disturbing the peace all over the country.

For the Gaza border communities this intolerable reality has been an integral part of life for more than a decade already. KKL-JNF supports the communities in Israel's south not only in periods of extreme crisis but all the time, by assisting them in becoming firmly established and in growing. This includes land reclamation and infrastructure for residential and agricultural development, water source development and residential landscaping.

We spoke with several residents from Israel's south, to hear about how they cope under the constant shadow of Gaza rockets.

“The situation is stressful, but we are used to it already, unfortunately,” said Eyal Brandeis, who lives in Kibbutz Sufa, only 4 kilometers away from the Gaza Strip border. He said that because they are so close, the residents do not always get to hear the warning before the missile strike. “In the other parts of Israel you hear the siren first, and then you hear the boom. Here one often hears a loud boom and only afterwards the siren.”

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"This is my Nobel Prize"

By KKL-JNF for Jpost.com

87 year-old Mietek Gorcher, KKL-JNF Sweden's greatest supporter, is honored at Sweden Park during the Go Green mission to Israel, a delegation of KKL-JNF supporters from Sweden and Denmark.

It is impossible to meet Mietek and not be captivated by his charm. He is a Holocaust survivor who was twelve years old at the beginning of World War II, and his story is that of a man who survived the Warsaw Ghetto and nine concentration camps. As he tells it, "towards the end of the war, my father and I were taken to Buchenwald. As the allied forces advanced, the Nazis moved us from camp to camp, always one step ahead of the conquering armies. Two weeks before the war ended, my father was killed by a bomb dropped by an American plane on the retreating German forces. At the end of the war, I weighed 22 kilograms, and had no more will or strength to continue. As I sat by the side of the road, all of a sudden three English soldiers appeared and came over to see why I was sitting there. One of them looked at me, realized I was Jewish, and said 'sholem aleichem'. I broke down in tears.

"Today, I spend almost all my time telling my story to high school children all over Sweden. This is my mission, and I have already lectured in 212 schools. When I finish my talk, I always ask if there are any questions. There are almost never any questions. The schoolchildren just cry. I never take money for my lectures, but I leave KKL-JNF's address with the schools and ask them to send whatever they would have paid me to KKL-JNF."

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Move To Ban Kosher Slaughter Really Not About the Animals

Anti-Semitism Lurks Behind the European Fight on Shechitah

By Jacob Ari Labendz for The Jewish Daily Forward

A number of European countries have recently sought, with some success, to ban the ritual slaughter of four-legged animals by Muslims and Jews. Denmark did so in February, following Poland in January. Proponents framed the discussion in terms of animal welfare. They have a point. Executed properly, animals suffer less when stunned — that is, rendered unconscious — before they are slaughtered. Mainstream interpretations of Muslim and Jewish law prohibit this practice.

Yet the bans on ritual slaughter, which are meant to protect animals from pain, have much more to do with excluding certain ethnic and religious groups and should therefore raise concern, even among activists who would normally support them.

As a vegan, I oppose industrial meat processing for its abject cruelty and indifference to animals. I should therefore support all initiatives that in any way ameliorate the suffering of those animals our society has deemed livestock. Just like the proponents of the ban, I, too, prefer that butchers stun cattle before they brandish their knives. I am even sympathetic to the Australian solution of “stunning” livestock immediately after ritual slaughter, to minimize suffering, while remaining within the bounds of religious law. Finland has provided a similar accommodation for its Jewish community since 1934.

Nonetheless, I strongly oppose banning ritual slaughter. For me, this has little to do with religious freedom. Though a bedrock of our society, religious freedom also has its limits. We outlaw female genital mutilation and compel parents to provide medical care for their children, even if they oppose doing so on religious grounds. Considered in isolation, if stunning is a “kinder and gentler” way to kill, I would insist upon its adoption despite the religious objections.

Yet we must first answer a few questions. What does it mean for predominantly Christian and post-Christian societies to ban Muslim and Jewish ritual slaughter when cruelty is inherent to the entire system of industrial animal farming, from birth until death? Why have activists seized upon this issue so fervently, and, more importantly, so successfully?

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Israel signs agreement to participate in EU Horizon 2020 research program

By SHARON UDASIN for The Jerusalem Post

The agreement, once ratified by Israel, will allow eligible Israeli researchers to actively participate in all of the new program's activities.

Science Technology and Space Minister Yaakov Peri and EU Delegation to Israel Ambassador Lars Faaborg-Andersen signed an agreement on Sunday in Jerusalem, officially associating Israel with the European Commission’s €77 billion Horizon 2020 research and innovation program.

The agreement, once ratified by Israel, will allow eligible Israeli researchers to actively participate in all of the new program’s activities, alongside EU and international partners, a statement from the European Commission said on Monday. As a full participant in the program, Israel will also be contributing to the Horizon 2020 budget, the EU statement said.

“Israel is a strong player in research and innovation and for this reason an important partner for the EU to address societal challenges of common concern, such as aging, food safety, environment protection or cleaner energy, and to strengthen the competitiveness of our industries,” said European Commission President José Manuel Barroso, who attended the signing alongside Peri, Faaborg-Andersen and Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu.

“I am pleased that we are signing the agreement today since it reflects the mutual importance we attach to cooperation and partnership in research and innovation,” Barroso continued.

Israel first announced its intentions to become an official participant in the program in February, following several obstacles associated with EU guidelines in July.

These guidelines stipulated that no funding would go to Israeli projects located beyond the pre-1967 armistice lines, including in east Jerusalem and on the Golan Heights. Ultimately, the two sides “agreed to disagree,” with Israel publishing its qualms in an appendix.

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