Freethought & Rationalism Archive

BioBeing · 05-30-2003, 10:33 AM

Apparently, the Bible is a good science text after all

From BioMedNet Conference Reporter (Free subscription required)

Quote:

Good dirt: finding new antibiotics in farm soil
Investigator: Jo Handelsman

21 May 2003

by Mari N. Jensen

Creating medicines from soil was recommended in the biblical book of Ecclesiastes, says Jo Handelsman of the University of Wisconsin in Madison. Her laboratory is following up on that ancient wisdom and using metagenomics to uncover new genes and gene products from soil microoorganisms.

Handelsman's investigation of soil organisms has found new antibiotics and new pathways for antibiotic resistance. Metagenomics - the analysis of collective genomes - offers a way to tap into the genetic diversity of the microbial world without having to culture unknown microbes. The technique is a boon in searching for new antibiotics and other drugs, she says, because most microorganisms cannot be cultured easily, if at all.

Wow - the bible tells about bacteria and antibiotics! Why then did it take so long for bacteria to be discovered, or for Fleming to discover penicillin?

BTW - anyone know what passage in Ecclesiastes this might be referring to? I scanned it and couldn't find it. I certainly never saw this in the bible :

Quote:

Appl Environ Microbiol 2002 Sep;68(9):4301-6

Isolation of antibiotics turbomycin a and B from a metagenomic library of soil microbial DNA.

Gillespie DE, Brady SF, Bettermann AD, Cianciotto NP, Liles MR, Rondon MR, Clardy J, Goodman RM, Handelsman J.

Department of Plant Pathology, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, Wisconsin 53706, USA.

To access the genetic and biochemical potential of soil microorganisms by culture-independent methods, a 24,546-member library in Escherichia coli with DNA extracted directly from soil had previously been constructed (M. R. Rondon, P. R. August, A. D. Bettermann, S. F. Brady, T. H. Grossman, M. R. Liles, K. A. Loiacono, B. A. Lynch, I. A. MacNeil, M. S. Osburne, J. Clardy, J. Handelsman, and R. M. Goodman, Appl. Environ. Microbiol. 66:2541-2547, 2000). Three clones, P57G4, P89C8, and P214D2, produced colonies with a dark brown melanin-like color. We fractionated the culture supernatant of P57G4 to identify the pigmented compound or compounds. Methanol extracts of the acid precipitate from the culture supernatant contained a red and an orange pigment. Structural analysis revealed that these were triaryl cations, designated turbomycin A and turbomycin B, respectively; both exhibited broad-spectrum antibiotic activity against gram-negative and gram-positive organisms. Mutagenesis, subcloning, and sequence analysis of the 25-kb insert in P57G4 demonstrated that a single open reading frame was necessary and sufficient to confer production of the brown, orange, and red pigments on E. coli; the predicted product of this sequence shares extensive sequence similarity with members of the 4-hydroxyphenylpyruvate dioxygenase (4HPPD) family of enzymes. Another member of the same family of genes, lly, which is required for production of the hemolytic pigment in Legionella pneumophila, also conferred production of turbomycin A and B on E. coli. We further demonstrated that turbomycin A and turbomycin B are produced from the interaction of indole, normally secreted by E. coli, with homogentisic acid synthesized by the 4HPPD gene products. The results demonstrate successful heterologous expression of DNA extracted directly from soil as a means to access previously uncharacterized small organic compounds, serving as an example of a chimeric pathway for the generation of novel chemical structures.

PMID: 12200279 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]

gilly54 · 06-04-2003, 12:03 AM

Leviticus 13--God, through those inspired Bible writers, tells how to diagnose leprosy(something about white, yellow and black hairs in the midst of the pustules). Lev. 14 tells how to cure it with lamb's blood and oil on the tip of the right ear, thumb and big toe, followed by much burnt offerings, atonement, and prayers.

Maybe Ms. Handelsman would like to next explore this example of 'ancient wisdom' also.

Gurdur · 06-04-2003, 12:58 AM

Actually, it's a persistant interpretational error about Leviticus and leprosy (a bit like Luther's mountain rabbits, since he knew nothing about the rock hyrax).

There's a fair bit of medical debate as to which disease Leviticus is describing there, but the consensus is that it's certainly not meaning leprosy (Hansen's disease).

Undercurrent · 06-04-2003, 10:41 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by Gurdur
There's a fair bit of medical debate as to which disease Leviticus is describing there, but the consensus is that it's certainly not meaning leprosy (Hansen's disease).

But I think we can be fairly sure that it's not describing any disease that can be cured by lamb's blood applied to the right ear.

scigirl · 06-04-2003, 10:59 AM

Let's just suppose that the Bible does have a true scientific fact here and there...

If we are using a rationale that "see there is good science in the bible it must be inspired by god," than isn't Darwin's Origin of Species even MORE inspired by god? And my physiology text - it's so holy that it glows!!

No matter what criteria you use to glorify the bible (true statements, well-written, contains morals), you can find a book that does better in every single category (except perhaps for the amount of times the word 'begat" appears - the Bible probably wins there). Bible believers are just silly.

scigirl

Godless Dave · 06-04-2003, 11:18 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by scigirl
No matter what criteria you use to glorify the bible (true statements, well-written, contains morals), you can find a book that does better in every single category (except perhaps for the amount of times the word 'begat" appears - the Bible probably wins there).

Obviously you haven't read any Icelandic sagas. Pages and pages of "So-and-so, who was the son of Whosits" etc.

lpetrich · 06-04-2003, 11:21 AM

It's something like the argument I'd invented that the Bible supports evolution:

All those begots suggest that genealogies are important.

Those Biblical genealogies are neither very edifying nor very entertaining.

They must therefore be present for some other purpose.

Biological evolution is the study of large-scale genealogies.

So those Biblical genealogies are a hint that evolution happens.

HumanisTim · 06-04-2003, 06:49 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by lpetrich
It's something like the argument I'd invented that the Bible supports evolution:

All those begots suggest that genealogies are important.

Those Biblical genealogies are neither very edifying nor very entertaining.

They must therefore be present for some other purpose.

Biological evolution is the study of large-scale genealogies.

So those Biblical genealogies are a hint that evolution happens.

And if the evolutionary line for humans since the begining had been kept in. Imagine how long the begats would have been then sheesh.

gilly54 · 06-04-2003, 10:36 PM

Quote:

There's a fair bit of medical debate as to which disease Leviticus is describing there, but the consensus is that it's certainly not meaning leprosy (Hansen's disease).

Whatever was the skin ailment or disease manifestation they were describing, the point is that the 'cure' is ridiculous, yet it is the 'word of God'.

Hmm, pustules with white, black or yellow hairs... Scigirl or Dr. Rick, any ideas? Maybe a Middle East mildew/fungus of some sort?

06-04-2003, 12:03 AM	#2
gilly54 Senior Member Join Date: Jan 2002 Location: New Almaden, California Posts: 917	Leprosy cure in Leviticus, too! Leviticus 13--God, through those inspired Bible writers, tells how to diagnose leprosy(something about white, yellow and black hairs in the midst of the pustules). Lev. 14 tells how to cure it with lamb's blood and oil on the tip of the right ear, thumb and big toe, followed by much burnt offerings, atonement, and prayers. Maybe Ms. Handelsman would like to next explore this example of 'ancient wisdom' also.

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06-04-2003, 12:58 AM	#3
Gurdur Contributor Join Date: Jun 2000 Location: Buggered if I know Posts: 12,410	Actually, it's a persistant interpretational error about Leviticus and leprosy (a bit like Luther's mountain rabbits, since he knew nothing about the rock hyrax). There's a fair bit of medical debate as to which disease Leviticus is describing there, but the consensus is that it's certainly not meaning leprosy (Hansen's disease).

06-04-2003, 10:59 AM	#5
scigirl Veteran Member Join Date: Jul 2001 Location: Seattle Posts: 4,261	Let's just suppose that the Bible does have a true scientific fact here and there... If we are using a rationale that "see there is good science in the bible it must be inspired by god," than isn't Darwin's Origin of Species even MORE inspired by god? And my physiology text - it's so holy that it glows!! No matter what criteria you use to glorify the bible (true statements, well-written, contains morals), you can find a book that does better in every single category (except perhaps for the amount of times the word 'begat" appears - the Bible probably wins there). Bible believers are just silly. scigirl

06-04-2003, 11:21 AM	#7
lpetrich Contributor Join Date: Jul 2000 Location: Lebanon, OR, USA Posts: 16,829	It's something like the argument I'd invented that the Bible supports evolution: All those begots suggest that genealogies are important. Those Biblical genealogies are neither very edifying nor very entertaining. They must therefore be present for some other purpose. Biological evolution is the study of large-scale genealogies. So those Biblical genealogies are a hint that evolution happens.

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