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Lab 6: Bacteria

Ascaris is a food-borne disease caused by lumbricoides, a roundworm parasite (Dold and

Holland 632-637). Infection occurs when an individual consumes food that contains eggs of

Ascaris from feces. These eggs are hatched in the intestines from where the larvae move through

the stomach walls into the blood to the lungs through borrowing. In the lungs, they break through

the alveoli and get to the trachea, from where they are coughed and may be swallowed. The

larvae then go through the stomach into the intestines, in which they mature into grown worms

(Hagel and Giusti 349-367).

When a diverse population of bacteria is treated repeatedly with the same antibiotic, and

not all of them die, the surviving bacteria develop resistance to the bacteria (Berman,23). Here

you find that the bacteria will develop resistance mechanisms by using instructions provided by

their DNA. Often, the resistance genes are located within plasmids, small pieces of DNA that

carry genetic instructions from one germ to another. This means that some bacteria can share

their DNA and make other germs resistant. The most common thing is that when the bacteria are

initially exposed to an antibiotic, those most susceptible to the antibiotic will die quickly, leaving

any surviving bacteria to pass on their resistant features to succeeding generations. But since the

bacteria are excessively numerous, you find that the random mutation of bacterial DNA
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generates a wide variety of genetic changes. Bacteria can develop defense mechanisms against

antibiotics through mutations and selections.

This idea of using bacteria to deliver gene therapies was first started in the 1990s, but the

early clinical trials met with mixed results. For instance, researchers have been looking forward

to modifying microbes found in people or the food they consume. A bacteria like Escherichia

coli and Lactobacillus have been changed to recognize and destroy harmful microbes. Examples

of that people use include Insulin, Hepatitis B vaccine. Tissue plasminogen activator, Human

growth hormone, Ice-minus bacteria, Interferon, Terraforming, and Other possibilities. Humulin

was a species that was modified to Insulin. The gene for making Insulin was cut from a length of

human DNA using restriction enzymes. It was inserted into a plasmid using ligase enzymes. The

plasmid goes into a bacterial cell. The transgenic bacterium reproduces, resulting in millions of

identical bacteria that produce human Insulin,

Genetic engineering is widely expounded. Hence it allows scientists to select one specific

gene to an implant by avoiding introducing other genes with undesirable traits. It also helped

revolutionize both the therapy and the prognosis of diabetes. The goal of genetic engineering is to

modify the genes to enhance the organism's capabilities beyond what is expected. Therefore,

ethical controversy surrounds the possible use of these technologies in plants, nonhuman

animals, and humans. They induce lower titers of circulating insulin antibodies; their

subcutaneous injection is associated with fewer skin reactions, and lastly, they are absorbed more

rapidly from the injection site. Risks related are the Insulin produced is not identical to human

Insulin, and not everyone can use it.

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Work Cited

Berman, Daniel. "Re-Challenging Antibiotic Resistance with Daniel Berman." Video Journal of

Biomedicine (2020): n. p23.

Dold, Christina, and Celia V. Holland. "Ascaris And Ascariasis." Microbes and Infection 13.7

(2011): 632-637. Web. 13 Aug. 2021.

Hagel, Isabel, and Tatiana Giusti. "Ascaris Lumbricoides: An Overview Of Therapeutic

Targets." Infectious Disorders - Drug Targets 10.5 (2010): 349-367. Web. 13 Aug. 2021.