Re:Person carrying bacteria resistant to antibiotics of last...
by ttraub on Thursday May 26, 2016 @09:27PM
(#11783225)
This sounds like an "Internet of things" opportunity: an implant that monitors an animal's temperature, antibody levels etc. Then they could target only the animals with telltale symptoms.
[ Parent
| on HN ]
Re:Person carrying bacteria resistant to antibiotics of last...
by has2k1 on Friday May 27, 2016 @12:54AM
(#11783977)
The implants still have to be cheaper than the antibiotics.
Re:Person carrying bacteria resistant to antibiotics of last...
by ttraub on Friday May 27, 2016 @09:18AM
(#11785782)
The implants would likely be pretty cheap -- a one time purchase of an RFID sensor encased in glass or similar non-immunogenic coating. RFID tags are on the order of a few cents. Probably this type of sophisticated sensor is going to be more like a few dollars in quantity.
The reader and the software are going to be a few hundred dollars or maybe a couple thousand. But it's a one time investment, plus ongoing implants as the herd changes over time.
I suspect the main selling point is going to be the one-time capital investment aspects and the fact that antibiotics are being painted as an undesirable additive in meat and dairy. When the general public starts to dislike a substance, suppliers scramble to distinguish their products, e.g. "No added growth hormones" and the like.