New Antibiotics Could Come from the Arctic

The dams, which were built mostly in the first half of the last century to supply power to the region, prevented the fish from laying their eggs upstream in hundreds of miles of the river and its tributaries. Salmon are hatched from eggs in stream beds, migrate to the ocean where they grow, and return upriver after years to regions where they were born to reproduce and then die.

Salmon have been critical to the culture of the tribes for thousands of years and have been their primary food source. The fish also support the ecosystem of the river, bringing nutrients from the ocean, providing a food source for wildlife, and fertilizing forests when they die. The Klamath River Renewal Corporation, which runs the removal project, says the watershed covers 9.4 million acres from the Cascades in southern Oregon through redwood forests to the Pacific Ocean—an area bigger than nine states.

When the dams were in place, salmon completely disappeared from upstream, according to the New York Times. Below the structures, the population of salmon fell to less than five percent of what it was. Now, it’s predicted that Chinook salmon may increase by 80 percent within three decades.

Researchers with the Horsfall Group at the University of Edinburgh may have a solution. They’ve figured out a way to harvest metals from old batteries and discarded electronics—which would otherwise be dumped in landfills and pollute water resources—by having bacteria hunt them down.

The team told the Guardian that they learned various strains of naturally occurring bacteria will attach to atoms of metals inside waste electronics but then spit out the metals to avoid poisoning themselves. That spit, so to speak, contains nanoparticles which could then be used in new batteries or electronics. If put into practice, it would facilitate a circular economy solution in which we’d not only reuse these vital elements but also reduce the environmental impact of mining metals, which affects water resources, contaminates the environment, and harms biodiversity. 

So, it was welcome news last week when researchers led by the University of Helsinki announced they had discovered a totally new type of antibiotic, in, of all places, the frigid waters of the Arctic. The group traveled on a Norwegian research ship and gathered up invertebrates from which they took actinobacteria, a type of bacteria.

They analyzed the samples to see how they affected a type of E. coli pathogen that can cause severe diarrhea. The scientists found that four species of the actinobacteria could inhibit the E. coli’s virulence. As explained on Earth.com, rather than eliminating the bacteria, making them less virulent may reduce the evolutionary drive that makes strains antibiotic resistant.

The authors said in a statement that while 70 percent of all licensed antibiotics have been derived from a type of bacteria found in soil, most environments on Earth have not been searched for new ones.

The study was published in the journal Frontiers in Microbiology.

The ibis, which have distinctive black-and-iridescent green feathers, bald red heads, and long curved beaks, were hunted nearly to extinction 400 years ago. But thanks to the conservation group Waldrappteam, colonies have gone from being critically endangered to endangered since they launched their program in 2002.

Unfortunately, when the group first attempted to reintroduce the birds into the wild, the animals lacked the instincts to know which direction to fly for the winter without the guidance of wild-born elders, and most disappeared or died soon after release.

So, the team stepped up to be their migration guides, having the ibis follow them south in their aircraft—which looks like a flying go-kart—while the foster parents wave and shout encouragement through a bullhorn. The birds obey because they had bonded with the humans since they were babies. Each chick had two foster parents who were their constant companions and who always wore yellow overcoats to help the birds recognize them apart from other humans.

This imprinting is key to the birds making the current 2,800-kilometer journey they started on August 13 to Andalusia, Spain, where they will settle in early October.  In 2024, it will be the 17th year the ibis have migrated with human guides, typically destined for Tuscany, Italy. However, starting last year, climate change has caused the birds to migrate later and forced them to cross the Alps in colder, more hazardous conditions, so the team now takes them on a longer, safer journey to Spain.

Eventually, the birds integrate with native flocks and no longer need their parents but when they fly north in spring, they often recognize their foster moms and dads years after they parted ways.