Barton Rocks CBS Segment with Microbiology

[Sharon Faulkner]

Professor rocks CBS segment
Microbiologist crawls through caves to research tiny organisms
Jennifer Corbett
9/26/07

Not many people can say they are a "bona fide 'rock' star."

But to Hazel Barton, it's all in a day's work.

Barton, a biology professor at Northern Kentucky University, was profiled on CBS's The Early Show in a segment called "Keoghan's Heroes," with Phil Keoghan from The Amazing Race, for her underground research in caves around the globe. "Caves are one of the last unexplored frontiers on earth and amazing discoveries are made each year," Barton said.

Debra Pearce, chair of biological sciences, agrees with Barton. "Like rainforests, caves are unharvested but fragile biological niches that hold potential for expanding scientific horizons, including new compounds that may have medical significance," she said.

In the video, Barton and her student group are exploring a cave in a remote area of Kentucky with Keoghan. She is researching extremophiles, which thrive without sunlight or any other source of energy. The video points out that the enzymes from the extremophiles could lead to powerful new antibiotics.

Full Article


CBS Article with Video

[Azurerana]

nssmembersforum said:

Professor rocks CBS segment

Microbiologist crawls through caves to research tiny organisms
JThe video points out that the enzymes from the extremophiles could lead to powerful new antibiotics.

They've been saying this for 20 years. Does anyone know of any actual antibiotics/medical substances approved for human use and derived from cave critters?

[madratdan]

No, I couldn't say I have heard anything specific.......but I don't receive or read the JCKS either. Sure does sound good on paper though. Great excuse to go into and/or close a cave because of the studies going on.

[Sharon Faulkner]

Other than the bat saliva anti coagulants, which may not as yet have been approved for human use, can't say that I do Azurerana. I think a number of research projects (not just related to the caving realm) may be ongoing merely to obtain funding or maintain allocated funding distribution, but I imagine the data adds to the overall knowledge of the subject matter.

Not just in relation to this article, but of any research in general, if we do happen to find microbes or organisms that can offer medicinal value to humans, are we going to extract the matter from caves to manufacture the medicine? And if we do extract the matter, would we be breaking our own ethical code of "take nothing but pictures"?

[Azurerana]

nssmembersforum said:

Not just in relation to this article, but of any research in general, if we do happen to find microbes or organisms that can offer medicinal value to humans, are we going to extract the matter from caves to manufacture the medicine? And if we do extract the matter, would we be breaking our own ethical code of "take nothing but pictures"?

Of course we (as humans) will. But, no worries. Just as we no longer go chop down willows for aspirin, or Pacific yew trees for taxol and tamoxifen, (although we darn near lost the Pacific yew due to medicinal overharvesting), if they find something cool, they'll find some way to synthesize it in the lab, and make a buck from it. (Not Hazel personally-- the biotech industry.)

One of the components of a polymer chain reaction (PCR-- what they use to replicate DNA for research) is Thermus aquaticus -- a critter they found in the hot springs of Yellowstone. Someone found it, cultured it, built a multimillion dollar industry from it, and then some person at Yellowstone said, "What the hey?" and now NPS gets a cut of the profits. (Look up Yellowstone bioprospecting for specifics.)

They are looking for something like a specific comma in my library. I wasn't being critical of their efforts. I know Edison had to make a thousand mistakes to create a light bulb. Just wondering if they were making any progress...