Good Day BIO: The ‘silent pandemic’

As World Antimicrobial Awareness Week is coming to a close, the season finale of the I am BIO Podcast looks at the challenge of antimicrobial resistance and potential solutions. We’ve also got the tea on how gene editing is improving your favorite hot beverages. (665 words, 3 minutes, 19 seconds)

The ‘silent pandemic’

The development of vaccines targeting COVID-19 was remarkably swift, but it’s taking longer to respond to “the silent pandemic” of antimicrobial resistance. As World Antimicrobial Awareness Week comes to an end, a new episode of the I am BIO Podcast explores AMR and what we can do about it.

"Existing antibiotics could stop working altogether in the near future,” BIO President and CEO Dr. Michelle McMurry-Heath warns in the season finale of the I am BIO Podcast.

Every year, 700,000 people die from antimicrobial resistance, or AMR, worldwide—and by 2050, this number could reach more than 10 million, Henry Skinner, CEO of the AMR Action Fund, told Dr. Michelle. 

A big part of the problem is overuse or underuse of antibiotics, according to the World Health Organization (WHO). 

COVID-19 made the problem worse. Opportunistic secondary infections and increased hospitalization fueled heavy use of antibiotics, Phyllis Arthur, BIO’s VP of Infectious Diseases & Emerging Science Policy, writes for healthywomen. 

Certain conditions, like cystic fibrosis, increase risk, says The Cystic Fibrosis Foundation’s Mary Dwight. The same is true of kidney disease, vascular diseases, and spinal cord injuries. 

The root of the problem is a broken market that doesn't incentivize the development of new antimicrobials. It’s hard to “create an economic case” for developing antibiotics, Ankit Mahadevia, CEO of Spero Therapeutics, tells Dr. Michelle. 

The AMR Action Fund, created by 20+ biopharmaceutical companies (including many BIO members), pledges $1 billion to help support development of 2-4 new antibiotics by 2030. 

But what’s really needed is policy change. Promising legislative proposals could help companies afford investments in antimicrobial development, including the PASTEUR Act and the DISARM Act. “To outrun these superbugs, we need to continually develop new and more potent antibiotics,” says Dr. Michelle.

Listen: Catch the episode and the full season at www.bio.org/podcast or via Apple, Google, or Spotify.

More Health Care News:

STAT News: FDA approves first drug for genetic cause of dwarfism
“The treatment, developed by BioMarin Pharmaceutical, is a once-daily injection for children with achondroplasia, a rare genetic disorder that results in dwarfism and can lead to serious medical complications. In a pivotal clinical trial, patients who got the drug, called Voxzogo, grew 1.6 centimeters more over the course of a year than those who received placebo. That means patients who take Voxzogo throughout childhood are likely to reach heights similar to their peers who don’t have achondroplasia, according to BioMarin.”

We’ve got the tea on gene editing for better beverages

Whether you prefer coffee or tea, gene editing is boosting the resilience and flavor of our beverages, while providing benefits for growers. 

Kenya is the world’s third-largest tea producer, but if climate change continues at its current pace, “tea harvests in some regions could decline by as much as 55%,” reports Innovature. “Unfortunately, small-scale farms will be the most affected.”

What’s the tea? “Tea plants are extremely sensitive to climate. Even the slightest variations in altitude, soil, and rainfall can affect its signature flavor, harvesting cycles, and even basic sustainability.” 

Kenya’s Tea Research Institute is addressing the challenge with gene editing—developing tasty tea that can withstand changes in moisture and temperature. 

Gene editing is also ensuring we don’t lose sleep over coffee. Decaf just doesn’t have the flavor of regular coffee, because the removing caffeine requires “a fairly brutal extraction process” that reduces flavor and can add a chemical taste, says another Innovature piece. 

Using the revolutionary gene editing techniques made possible with CRISPR-Cas9, a UK-based company called Tropic Biosciences can turn off the coffee plant’s caffeine-producing gene, without changing the plant in any other way. 

The result? A plant that grows naturally without caffeine, without requiring chemical treatment to get the final product. 

Read More: GMOs and gene editing—nothing to be afraid of!

President Biden’s Tuesday: Delivering remarks on the economy and “lowering prices.” Participating in a service project with the First Lady, the Vice President, and the Second Gentleman at the DC Central Kitchen. 

What’s Happening on Capitol Hill: Recess.