I thought this article was interesting, below. It shows us just how naive we are, while at the same time how far we’ve come. I never really gave it much thought that bacteria could communicate with each other because I instictively knew they had something they used for their survival.

If alien species of plants can come to or be planted in a new land and become invasive, smoothering out native species, then they too have a means buy which to communicate. All living things have a mechcanism to survive. It’s just a matter of time until “we” figure out what it is.

This article also makes me happy to know that I’m among the fortunate who know about and use Young Living Essential Oils, available at TheVeryEssence.com Therapeutic grade essential oils are extremely powerful complex compounds, too complex for bacteria to mutate and become immune to.

Therapeutic grade essential oils cannot be patented so it’s not likely they’ll ever be used in conventional medicine as a means to protect people from superbugs.

I also think it is important to know that each time an antibiotic or antibacterial wipe/soap/solution is used we ARE contributing to the creation, mutation, of yet another super bug! Use antibiotic medication wisely, as your doctor states – yet know that there are many illnesses that are ‘not’ helped by antibiotic medications, you can speak with your doctor about that too.

And one last thing, please… do NOT use antibacterial wipes, sprays and soaps – they are made from chemicals which have a very simple structure that bacteria can learn and teach each other – yes, bacteria DO communicate!

If you are going to use an antibacterial soap, spray, or wipe – I use and recommend using the Young Living Thieves line of products. These have the best essential oils, which are complex and will NOT contribute to creating the next new super-strain of bacteria!

Talking Bacteria, and How to Shut Them Up

By Ker Than, Special to LiveScience

posted: 10 March 2005 06:36 am ET

Bacteria are more gregarious than previously thought. Not only do they routinely engage in small talk among themselves, but research is showing that many are also multilingual and can communicate with members of other species.

“When we think about bacteria, we think about them as being tiny single-celled organisms that live these very asocial reclusive lives,” said Bonnie Bassler, a molecular biologist at Princeton University. “In fact, bacteria have developed language, and the language is chemical.”

Speaking at the annual meeting for the American Association for the Advancement of Science earlier this year in Washington, Bassler explained that in addition to being able to communicate with members of their own species, many bacteria can also talk to members of other species using a universal chemical language.

Gathering a quorum

Bacteria are able to communicate with one another through a process known as quorum sensing.

Here’s how it works: Individual bacteria secrete signaling molecules called autoinducers into their environments, and as the number of bacteria in a colony increases, so does the concentration of the signaling molecule.

Once a critical mass, or quorum, of bacteria and auto inducers are reached, specific behaviors can be initiated.

Quorum sensing allows bacteria to coordinate their behaviors on a global scale and to act like enormous multicellular organisms, Bassler explained. The types of behaviors initiated by quorum sensing are typically those that are beneficial only when performed as a group, such as the release of toxins or the formation of aggregates called biofilms.

“The goal of quorum sensing is to count,” Bassler said. Bacteria in the wild are not typically found in homogenous groups, but rather coexist in diverse communities with other bacterial species. “We don’t think anymore that it does bacteria any good to only count its own species; they have to be able to take a census of the rest of the population.”

One way they do this is through quorum sensing. In addition to autoinducers that are species-specific, many bacteria also produce a universal autoinducer, known as AI-2, which can be understood across different bacterial species.

AI-2 was first discovered in a bioluminescent species of marine bacteria capable of giving off visible light, but it has since been identified in hundreds of other species. “This is a generic language,” said Bassler. “It’s the trade language that says ‘other.”

Applications

Many scientists believe the discovery of AI-2 could lead to the development of a new class of antibiotics. [science behind essential oils]

“If we could keep the bacteria from talking or listening, we might be able to develop new kinds of therapeutics,” Bassler said.

Because such a drug would not kill the bacteria directly, but only disrupt their activity and prevent them from releasing their toxins, it would not encourage the development of resistance–a problem that is plaguing many current antibiotics. Bassler believes there are probably other molecules like AI-2.

“There are probably many more molecules to be found that tells who the other guy is as well,” she said. “We’re only at the beginning of this field.”

I’m sticking with my Young Living Essential Oils!