Sweet solution - Honey

Honey, that delectable condiment for breads and fruits, could be one sweet solution to the serious, ever-growing problem of bacterial resistance to antibiotics, researchers said. Medical professionals sometimes use honey successfully as a topical dressing, but it could play a larger role in fighting infections, the researchers predicted. Their study was part of the 247th National Meeting of the American Chemical Society (ACS), the world's largest scientific society. 

The unique property of honey lies in its ability to fight infection on multiple levels, making it more difficult for bacteria to develop resistance, It uses a combination of weapons, including hydrogen peroxide, acidity, osmotic effect, high sugar concentration and polyphenols - all of which actively kill bacterial cells. The osmotic effect, which is the result of the high sugar concentration in honey, draws water from the bacterial cells, dehydrating and killing them.

  

In addition, several studies have shown that honey inhibits the formation of biofilms, or communities of slimy disease-causing bacteria, Honey may also disrupt quorum sensing, which weakens bacterial virulence, rendering the bacteria more susceptible to conventional antibiotics, Quorum sensing is the way bacteria communicate with one another, and may be involved in the formation of biofilms. In certain bacteria, this communication system also controls the release of toxins, which affects the bacteria's pathogenicity, or their ability to cause disease. 

Honey is effective because it is filled with healthful polyphenols, or antioxidant. These include the phenolic acids, caffeic acid, p-coumaric acid and ellagic acid, as well as many flavonoids. Several studies have demonstrated a correlation between the non-peroxide antimicrobial and antioxidant activities of honey and the presence of honey phenolics.

Truth about Ethanol

Fermentation using bacteria

Yeast is very good at converting glucose, and other six-carbon sugars into ethanol. Unfortunately, a significant proportion of waste biomass consists of complex natural polymers made from sugars that are not "digested" readily by yeast enzymes.

These include hemicellulose, which on hydrolysis produces a range of sugars including: mannose, xylose, arabinose and galactose, depending on the original source.

KO11

A genetically modified bacterium, developed by the microbiologist Lonnie Ingram in 1987, has enabled these sugars to be converted to ethanol. The bacterium, referred to as KO11, would normally produce acids, but the modification means ethanol is produced instead.



 The advantage over yeast is that a wider range of sugars can be processed, enabling the utilisation of biomass waste such as wood waste, corn stalks, rice hulls, and other organic waste, which would otherwise require disposal by some other method, or which could only be partially utilised by conventional fermentation methods, making them uneconomic.

 

 

Commercial Development
The BC International Corporation is attempting to develop this approach commercially in the United States, focusing on:

• areas where legislation prohibits burning of agricultural waste
• conventional ethanol plants suitable for conversion and refurbishment

 

Ethanol itself is also used:

• As a solvent in manufacture of perfumes, cosmetics, pharmaceuticals, varnishes, detergents, inks and coatings
• As a motor fuel and motor fuel blending agent (link to fuel section - when written)
• Ethanol is an intermediate in the manufacture of many products.

Ethanol is also present in many common beverages. Synthetic alcohol is not normally used for this purpose as it may contain traces of other by-products of manufacture.

DRINKING WATER - GLOBAL CHALLENGES

Nigeria, a country in which 66 million people lack safe drinking water. The occasion: a celebration of the production of the one-billionth quart of clean drinking water with a purification technology developed by chemists at Procter & Gamble and the CDC.

The technology consists of small, easy-to-use packets that people in rural areas can add to a container of dirty water. These so-called PUR water purification packets work like a mini water treatment plant. PUR packets contain powdered water clarification and disinfectant chemicals similar to those used in municipal water purification plants.

One ingredient: calcium hypochlorite, which kills parasites, bacteria, and viruses. Another: ferric sulfate, which removes dirt and other impurities. PUR packets kill microbes that cause cholera, typhoid, and dysentery. They remove potentially toxic metals like lead, arsenic, and mercury. PUR packets also remove pesticides like DDT and other undesirable materials. It takes less than 30 minutes to purify 10 quarts of water.  The packets are provided in the developing world for only pennies.

At the clinic,  P&G’s former Chief Executive Officer, President, and Chairman, donated the PUR packet that provided the one-billionth liter of safe drinking water. Local and national government officials and others gathered at the clinic to observe the milestone.

Reaching 1 billion liters of safe drinking water provided so far by PUR purified water. It’s a little packet of powder, and it transforms dirty, contaminated water into clear, safe drinking water. You add it to 2½ gallons, stir for 5 minutes, and the water visibly and physically transforms in front of your eyes to clear water. Pour it into a cloth, wait 20 minutes, and then it’s safe to drink.”

How effective is this chemical magic?  ACS national meeting described the clinical trials. One involved 25,000 people in four countries — Guatemala, Pakistan, Kenya, and Liberia. PUR packets reduced the incidence of  by an adiarrheaverage of 50 percent. One of the trials in a refugee camp found a 90 percent reduction in diarrhea.