A Non-Antibiotic Approach For Treating Urinary Tract Infections

The scientists describe the development of anti-adhesion molecules that specifically interfere with the attachment of bacteria to human bladder cells. The most potent of the substances prevented a UTI from developing in mice (stand-ins for humans in this kind of experiment) for more than eight hours. In the in vivo treatment study, a very low dose reduced the amount of bacteria in the bladder of the animals by almost 10,000 times, which is comparable to the standard antibiotic treatment with ciprofloxacin.

Combating disease . . .  promoting
public health … providing clean water and safe food . . . developing new
sources of energy . . . confronting climate change. Hello, from the American
Chemical Society — the ACS. Our more than 163,000 members make up the world’s
largest scientific society. This is “Global Challenges/Chemistry Solutions: New
Solutions 2011.” Global Challenges 2011 updates the ACS’ award-winning podcast
series.

Today’s solution addressed the problem of findings better ways to deal
with waste water from sewage treatment plants.

Scientists are reporting wastewater has much more potential as an
alternative energy source than previously thought. They say that their new
discovery could increase the estimated potential energy in wastewater by a
significant amount. Their report appears in ACS’ journal Environmental
Science & Technology.

Here is lead author Elizabeth S. Heidrich of Newcastle University in the U.K. …

“Sewage treatment plants in the United States use about 1.3 percent of the nation’s electrical energy to treat 12.5 trillion gallons of wastewater a year. Instead of just processing and disposing of this water, treatment facilities could convert its organic molecules into fuels, transforming their work from an energy drain to an energy source.”

This approach has tremendous potential for creating a huge source of energy when there is such a growing need for new resources globally.

“One gallon of wastewater contains enough energy to power a 100-watt light bulb for five minutes. This is such an untapped resource. Just imagine how much power we could generate if this energy could be harvested.”

Through their research, the scientists discovered that using wastewater to create energy is even more effective than had been thought. “In our study, we freeze-dried wastewater to conserve more of its energy-rich compounds. Using a standard device to measure energy content, we found that the wastewater we collected from a water treatment plant in Northeast England contained nearly 20 per cent more energy than reported previously

Global Challenges/Chemistry Solutions is a series of podcasts describing some of the 21st century’s most daunting problems, and how cutting-edge research in chemistry matters in the quest for solutions. Global Challenges is the centerpiece in an alliance on sustainability between ACS and the Royal Society of Chemistry. Global Challenges is a sweeping panorama of global challenges that includes dilemmas such as providing a hungry and thirsty world with ample supplies of safe food and clean water, developing alternatives to petroleum to fuel society, preserving the environment and ensuring a sustainable future for our children and improving human health.

For more entertaining, informative science videos and podcasts from the ACS Office of Public Affairs, view Prized Science, Spellbound, Science Elements and Global Challenges/Chemistry Solutions.

The American Chemical Society is a nonprofit organization chartered by the U.S. Congress. With more than 164,000 members, ACS is the world’s largest scientific society and a global leader in providing access to chemistry-related research through its multiple databases, peer-reviewed journals and scientific conferences. Its main offices are in Washington, D.C., and Columbus, Ohio.

Contacts and sources:
Michael Bernstein
American Chemical Society