A Horse of a Different Color...

"An eye for an eye makes the whole world blind" ~ Mahatma Gandhi

As a woman, and probably a Pisces, (sorry for you non-astrology believers...) I never quite "got" the whole idea of "Fighting Fire with Fire" - it just doesn't make any sense to me...when I hear people speak of this well known ideology, I often turn my head to the side, nod in COMPLETE confusion, trying desperately to understand this kind of nonsensical logic when all the while, the only thing running through my head is, "Huh, um...Rrriiight...you know...Water would probably be a MUCH better solution for that..." Hell, I mean - it HAS worked pretty darn well for our firefighters all these years - right?? 


Unfortunately, what I have noticed is that the "Western World" tends to not "agree" so to speak with what they would most likely consider to be my "idealistic" (even romantic) notions mentioned above.


And THIS is why I tend to get ecstatic whenever I meet or see someone who has cleverly managed to put the principles I so adore into practice - and SUCCEED.


You may or may not have heard of her, but I'd like to introduce you to a person I am VERY fond of, a person who has literally stepped outside the box and dared to take a look at molecular biology from a completely different perspective; a perspective that I believe will not only change the way the medical community understand bacteria, but one that will hopefully lead to the NEXT generation of antibiotics. Her name is Dr. Bonnie Bassler, and I believe her work to be the future in modern medicine.


To learn who she is, and what she has discovered take a look at this quick video:




I have tried numerous times to put her famous "TED" video (found under the "inspirational videos" in this blog) up in hopes that it will, lol, start a FIRE amongst us CLD patients with all of the implications this discovery of "Quorum Sensing" could mean for our future, but it hasn't really seemed to catch. So - I decided to spell it out and write a post about her and WHY I think she's so amazing!


In order for me to do that, let's go back to my little analogy about fighting fire with fire. In my eyes, I believe this is how today's "broad-spectrum" antibiotics work. They do NOT distinguish "good" from "bad" bacteria and basically kill everything in their sight. This is NOT good, and actually NOT true. With the discovery of antibiotic resistance, mutations, pleomorphic changes in the bacteria to avoid being harmed, as well as the discovery of impenetrable bio-films, one would think that a "new" tactic is in desperate need. 


What Bonnie has essentially managed to do is this: in a world where the only answer to anything pathogenic is KILL! KILL! KILL! Here's a woman who is basically cocking her head to one side and saying, "Hey! Don't you know that the best way to win a war and still preserve the land is NOT to blow everything to shreds? Why don't you simply silence the enemy's lines of communication? Seriously, what could they possibly do then? Now, THAT is what I call fighting Fire with Water : ) 


Thank you Dr. Bassler for your unbelievable work, and I'm sure that I'm not the only who thinks this when I say: 

To learn more about Dr. Bassler, please visit the following sites:

Princeton University Molecular Biology Website

Obama Nominates Bassler to serve as a memeber of the National Science Board


And for those of you who are EXTREMELY left-brained and want a truly scientific explanation, here is a speech Dr. Bassler gave to the NIH (National Institute of Health in 2009)

Lol - my favorite part is when she says (to the NIH), " So I really only have one goal in this seminar and that's to try to convince you that bacteria talk to each other."


Another favorite quote that she says is, "...What's SO remarkable is that the last 60's year's of antibiotics actually worked...!"


Lastly, as a side note if you will, I read an article in the news (from my very own blog by the way) this morning, entitled, "Don't get thrown for a loop by Lyme Disease" written by a Dr. who advocates against the existence of CLD. In the article he states that those of us that say we have it are pretty much insane...


The only thing I could think to say to this man is this: Lyme patients often suffer from various lapses in cognitive abilities. One of them happens to be the ability to process and assimilate NEW information. With all of the emerging evidence on this disease and its' co-infections, I can't help but wonder if he may possibly be suffering from the same malady :P


Many Blessing and Thanks for Reading!
Sarah