A breakthrough may have been sighted in the field of medicine with scientists developing an alternative to antibiotics that can fight drug-resistant infections. So promising do the results seem that a pill or injection is promised in as little as five years. If the projections come true, humanity can heave a sigh of relief as one of the big battles being staged now is battling infections that seem to defy all known antibiotics.
The new drug works in a novel way, targeting only a particular type of bacteria using “designer” enzymes, known as endolysins, that bind to the bacteria and kill it. What is exciting is that the breakthrough will benefit all mankind, not just those who can afford to stretch their time on Earth. Such a pill may offer treatment that bridges the divide between the rich and the poor.
Further afield, those wishing to defy age might have a new-found ally in Google and its search for the holy grail of longevity just as sections of the profit-oriented big pharma explore the field of anti-ageing drugs. To hazard a guess on what will happen to the world if average life expectancy rises is to wish for prescience like that of Nostradamus. An overcrowded planet may obviously struggle to support a population that is already seven billion-plus and counting.
May be pharma can look more closely at drugs that will help humanity live better, like formulations that reverse the deterioration of immunity with age.
