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Re:Liquid water 'lake' revealed on Mars by vibrio on Wednesday July 25, 2018 @01:13PM (#17610922)
100% this, for sure. you don't have to sell me I'm a microbiologist-- my username here is a tribute to a bacterial genus that drives cholera, necrotizing fasciitis and other nasty stuff. We need new antibiotics now, and it is an economic problem at least as much as a scientific one.

The basis for my post is the implication that funding cancer research is a "waste", which I disagree with.

Re:Liquid water 'lake' revealed on Mars by wiz21c on Wednesday July 25, 2018 @03:25PM (#17612031)
since you're a microbiologist : is the threat to health you describe that bad ? I mean, when I read you, it's Michael Crichton level dystopia stuff.
Re:Liquid water 'lake' revealed on Mars by vibrio on Thursday July 26, 2018 @10:57AM (#17617962)
Michael Crichton/Outbreak type stuff isn't what scares me. It is going into a hospital for a routine hernia surgery or dental surgery and getting an infection that responds to nothing. It could happen right now, but is unlikely. The chances will increase as antibiotic resistance spreads. It's not people screaming in the streets, it a more gradual change to a new normal where routine care may no longer be routine, with maybe occasional bursts of incidence at some hospital or other. There will be a lag-time to making new antibiotics, and honestly it's not now an area of focus for Pharma for economic reasons.