2008 Woodie Awards
Study by Pace Professor receives Attention from Science Community
Samantha Egan
- Page 1 of 1
|
Pace students and faculty made their mark on the science community with a new study that will soon be published in a peer-reviewed scientific journal.
Dr. Marcy Kelly, a biologist and professor at Pace, along with six of her undergraduate students, conducted a study about the danger of antibacterial products containing the chemical triclosan which caught the attention of several scientific journals, and will be published in the scientific journal "Research in Microbiology".
Kelly and her students presented their findings two years ago to the American Academy for the Advancement of Sciences in St. Louis, and again for the American Society of Microbiology in 2007 in Toronto.
The study took three years to complete, which Kelly said in an interview with the Paw Print, was normal for undergraduate experiments. As far as experiments in the study went, Kelly said she "sat back and let the students do the work," which she said was "one of the reasons (the study and the attention it is receiving) is so amazing."
Kelly believes her and her students are the first to discover that the deadly "staph" bacteria, short for Staphylococcus aureus (S. aureus), which can cause meningitis, pneumonia, endocarditis, toxic shock syndrome, and food poisoning, builds up a resistance to triclosan. Because triclosan blocks some of the same enzymes as anti biotics, the "staph" bacteria can mutate and become resistant to the antibiotics also . "When we use antibacterial soap containing triclosan, we not only kill the good bacteria, the bacteria that protect us, but we encourage mutant strains that resist other antibiotic medicines," said Kelly in a press release dated Jan. 2006. "The notion that we should all live in a completely sterile environment is not a good notion. This is the result of lack of education of the public."
Based on their findings, Kelly recommends that people should "most definitely" stop using products with triclosan as the active ingredient, which can be found in some hand-washing liquids, toothpastes, lotions, as well as germ resistant plastics and fabrics. She said antibacterial products with alcohol as the active ingredient are much better and safer.
"I believe the FDA should regulate the use of the products to protect the average consumer from creating more resistant bacteria," Kelly said in the press release. "We are running out of antibiotics to treat these new, resistant bacteria that are cropping up. It's all about the money. The sale of antibacterial products is a huge industry. All the hoopla over diseases keeps the public afraid yet largely uninformed about the causes and effective methods of prevention."
The only exceptions when using triclosan that might be appropriate, Kelly said were in hospitals with medical staffs who deal with many sick patients, one after another. Also for "very serious" infections or cuts associated with piercings or open wounds.
In many cases, Kelly said washing your hands with regular soap and water, rather than antibacterial soap and water, was just fine in preventing bacteria.
In the 2006 press release, Kelly also said that the consistency of soap removes bacteria. She recommended that people sing "Happy Birthday" three times to them self to ensure that they wash their hands long enough.
The students who participated in the experiment have gone from undergraduates to Pace Alumni in the time it took for the study to be completed and published.
According to Kelly, two of the students are enrolled in Ph.D. programs, another one is now in the PA program at Pace. The other two have started their careers: one has joined the Boston Police Department's forensic science team, and the other is currently working in the research lab at Columbia University.
Kelly agreed that working on a published study was "absolutely" a good resume builder.
Be the first to comment on this story