Harmless Bacteria as a Natural Weapon Against Disease Causing Bacteria

Antibiotic and chemical resistance of certain bacteria are already debilitating and killing people, in ever-increasing numbers. What is the future of novel antimicrobial compounds? We have heard about the natural- born killers of bacteria…their phages. Now we have some bacteria that could be hired to do the same job!

Washington post reported an interesting story today on the use of natural weapons against disease causing bactereia. Eric Brown, a microbiologist at the FDA's Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition and a team of FDA scientists trying to prevent salmonella contamination in tomatoes have stumbled upon what they believe are powerful, naturally occurring "good" bacteria that can slaughter the "bad" bacteria that have become a persistent problem in fresh fruits and vegetables because they harm humans. It's a variation on the "enemy of my enemy" philosophy, with scientists like Brown cultivating hostile relatives of harmful bacteria to perform a sort of microscopic fratricide before the bugs can harm humans.

It would be interesting to see how this works in the field.