During 1940s, penicillin, the first commercially available antibiotic, was hailed as a “wonder drug.” Penicillin helped make WWII the first American war where infection was not the major cause of death. But by the 1950s, antibiotic resistance became widespread. Scientists were engaged in a veritable arms race, constantly modifying and developing new classes of antibiotics to beat resistance while bacteria, literally generations ahead, continued to defeat their advances. The same story is true for antivirals, such as Tamiflu (oseltamivir). Multidrug-resistant bacteria and viruses are an increasing problem, especially in hospital settings. Scientists are now looking to develop new methods, beyond standard antibiotics and antivirals, to combat bacterial and viral diseases. Within the past month, many new treatments have been discussed, including the use of small interfering RNA (siRNA).
There is currently no effective drug against the Ebola virus, but a new siRNA based method of treating the deadly Zaire Strain of the Ebola virus has proven successful in recent animal studies at the U.S. Army Medical Research Institute of Infectious Diseases (USAMRIID). siRNAs are small pieces of RNA that block specific RNA sequences before they can be translated into a protein. Because they are typically unstable, the researchers used a new method, developed by the Tekmira Pharmaceutical Corporation, to stabilize the siRNA for delivery. This new delivery method could be easily modified and used to treat other viral hemorrhagic fevers or any other viral infections. In fact, it may also be used to develop a broad spectrum treatment against the influenza virus. Another research group has recently discovered a small viral RNA (svRNA) common to all influenza viruses that controls viral replication. This svRNA could easily be targeted and destroyed by an siRNA. This breakthrough in treatment with siRNA offers hope to those who infected by previously untreatable infections, such as Ebola and other viral hemorrhagic fevers, or even by common viral infections, such as the influenza virus, that have developed resistance to standard antiviral medications.
These new advances in technology and basic science allow for targeted and broad spectrum treatments to an increasing number of antibiotic/antiviral-resistant pathogens. Although these treatments may seem like modern “wonder drugs,” they can ultimately become resistant and ineffective. Because many in the medical field have witnessed first-hand the rise and decline of antibiotic and antiviral effectiveness, a more responsibility approach to the use of these new drugs will likely be taken in effort to delay the emergence of resistant pathogens.
While beneficial, all technological advances have the potential for misuse, and a continual effort to raise the awareness of these issues to scientists and the community is needed. The FAS Biosecurity program’s dual use case studies highlight some research related to the topics mention in this post, including the “Antibiotic Resistance” and “RNA interference” case studies.