Chemical found to inhibit anthrax germination
Seven different chemicals do the trick, but only one works inside mammalian cells
Here’s some good news from the annals of anthrax research. Professor Jurgen Brojatsch of the Albert Einstein School of Medicine and colleagues announced this week that they had made substantial progress in the effort to prevent anthrax infection by preempting spore growth. The researchers identified seven chemicals that block the germination of cultured anthrax spores — one of which blocked the spores’ germination inside mammalian cells, thus blocking anthrax infection. The next step is to perform live experiments, and so the scientists are now planning to test the chemical, known as 6-thioguanosine, in mice infected with the anthrax bacterium. 6-thioguanosine, we should note, is also a known anticancer agent with well-studied pharmacological properties, which could help save time and money if it is used in clinical trials.
