Lake Vostok Contains New Bacteria

Russian scientists [photo credit: AFP] drilling into Lake Vostok beneath the ice of Antarctica have found a bacteria new to science. The genetics laboratory in St. Petersburg declared samples of the life form to be distinct from known forms. Vostok is believed to have been completely covered by ice for more than a million years. The Russians drilled almost four kilometers to reach the lake's surface. Scientist see Lake Vostok as a possible terrestrial analog for bodies of liquid water that may exist elsewhere in the solar system, notably on Saturn's moon of Enceladus and Jupiter's moon Europa. Samples containing a bacteria that is 86% distinct from known types were taken in May 2012. A confirming sample is planned to be retrieved in this year's expedition.

More bacteria related news closer to home: the Center for Disease Control reports a new strain of drug resistant germs, carbapenem-resistent Enterobacteriaceae (CRE) spreading in US hospitals and care facilities. Enterobacteriaceae is a large family of bacteria which inhabit human gastrointestinal tracts. The most commonly reported genera are Escherichia, Klebsiella, and Enterobacter. CRE can transmit its drug resistance to ordinary germs like E. coli  Patients who get CRE infections in their bloodstream have a 50% mortality rate. In care facilities bacteria are transmitted by hands and infected equipment such as catheters. Between 2001 and 2011 the proportion of resistant cases of enterobacterial infection more than tripled in the US. In 2011 klebsiella pneumoniae overtook a National Institutes of Health hospital in Bethesda, MD infecting eighteen patients and killing six. The CDC director named these new, super microorganisms "nightmare bacteria". The "attorney from hell", US Person suggests "bacteria from hell" would be more descriptive. So far the infections have been limited to healthcare facilities but have the potential to move into the population at large if uncontrolled. Forty-two states have CRE cases.