Prelims: Science and technology | Current events of national and international importance
Why in news?
Recently, a new study from researchers at the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, has revealed that nano plastics aren’t just risky on their own
- Nano plastics – It is extremely small plastic particles typically ranging from 1 to 100 nanometres in size.
- They are found everywhere- in mountaintops, deep-sea trenches, human bloodstream, tissues, and even newborns.
- It is known for toxic effects including damage to cells and genetic material.
- E. coli (Escherichia coli) – It is a group of bacteria that usually lives in your gut without hurting you.
- It is a gram-negative bacillus foodborne pathogen and is a causative agent of many diarrheal illnesses.
Gram-negative bacteria appear pink or red under a microscope during lab test because they have a thin cell wall and an outer membrane that prevents the primary stain (crystal violet) from being retained.
Findings of the study
- Impact of Nano plastics – Researchers found that nano plastics make E. coli (Gram-negative) can be more virulent.
- The charged nano plastics increases stress on E. coli, prompting it to produce more Shiga-like toxins — proteins responsible for causing disease.
- The charged nano plastics initially inhibited bacterial growth.
- But over time, some E. coli cells adapted, resumed growth, and showed genetic changes.
- Both positively and negatively charged nano plastics led to these effects, although positive charges had more severe outcomes.
- Significance – Nano plastics can exacerbate bacterial infections by enhancing virulence
- It also poses indirect threat by making microbes more dangerous and resistant to antibiotics.
Reference
The Hindu| Nanoplastics can make E. coli infections worse
