In a Squeaky-Clean World, a Worm Might Help Fight Disease
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970204795304577220993641557460.html?mod=googlenews_wsj
I have been following this theory for a number of years and it seems to be gaining ground. There is increasing evidence that we have mutualistically co-evolved along with dozens (perhaps hundreds or even thousands) of microbial species that our clean society has caused us to lose. Because of this imbalance our bodies are now much more susceptible to a host of diseases that just a few generations ago were practically unknown. I suspect that over the next couple of decades (it takes a long time for things like this to change in the world of medicine) we will see all sorts of treatments based on microbial cultures. There is some evidence in some animal studies and very small human trials that the type and relative abundance of microbes in our guts can lead to, or ameliorate, chronic obesity. I suspect that in the next couple of decades that the study of immunology will be completely turned on its head. I recall from my study of the history of science that just before the discovery of antibiotics researchers had been developing bacteriophages (viruses that specifically target certain bacteria) in treating infections and had been making some progress. Why would anyone care about that? Because of evolution, as the bacteria evolve to get resistance against the phage, the phage is evolving to better attack the bacteria, something that isn’t happening in our world of chemical antibiotics. Since that research was effectively abandoned 70 or so years ago it will take a while to ramp that back up and in general pharmaceutical companies don’t know jack about biology (hard to imagine, I know, but I assure you it is true) there isn’t much funding and getting approval for clinical trials is often quite challenging (for instance, it has taken nearly a decade to get approval for the above mentioned trials and most of the early human evidence was supplied by people testing it on themselves).
Revolutions in science are usually good, it forces people out of their preconceived notions and there is often dramatic progress for a period until people slip back into their conviction that they already know everything.
