• Question: Do you think we will find a cure for things like MRSA?

    Asked by 10wilkinsonm to Amy, Grant, Martin, Shawn, Usman on 13 Mar 2013.
    • Photo: Martin Archer

      Martin Archer answered on 13 Mar 2013:

      I think the problem with MRSA is that it keeps mutating to new strains which are resistant to the current drugs we use. This is just evolution by natural selection at work, those MRSA without the new drug resistant mutations die off leaving the new strains to multiply and spread. For this reason I don’t think we’ll find a simple cure, just like we haven’t found a cure to the “common cold”.

    • Photo: Grant Kennedy

      Grant Kennedy answered on 18 Mar 2013:

      It’s possible, but the main problem with MRSA is actually in the name, it’s full name is “Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus”. The first bit says what the problem is, that it’s resistant to methicillin, which is a kind of penicillin (an antibiotic). As Martin said, these drug-resistant strains have largely come about because of overuse of antibiotics, and that’s not only in humans, but in animals like cows too.
      g

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