Poem a Day April 10, 2012

m.y.c.o.b.a.c.t.e.r.i.a

lurking in the water
quiet in the soil
waiting

any opportunity
every moment
hunting

this one will
this one may
this one won’t

spin the genomic wheel
and take your chances
do you feel lucky?

My research for this poem included the following sites:

• NIH – National Institute of Allergy and Infection Diseases
• Southern Illinois University (Carbondale) – description of mycobacteria
• WHO – Water Sanitation Health report on mycobacteria

Not all mycobacteria are dangerous to humans, but some of them are. Two long-standing nightmares that fall into the mycobacteria family are tuberculosis and leprosy. Treatments against mycobacteria, like other bacteria, seem to vary in success and the problem of antibiotic resistance applies to these little rod-shaped critters as with so many others. I know that some bacteriophage research is being done concerning mycobacteria, but to be honest I lacked the time or the patience to wade through it this evening. I hope if you are curious, you will have both patience and time. Many scholarly studies show up if you google “mycobacteria bacteriophage!”