Pages

▼

May 31, 2011

Caffeine-Eating Bacteria May Fix Your Broken Heart

Everyone loves a good cup of joe, including our friendly neighborhood bacteria Pseudomonas putida CBB5. This microbe can consume caffeine with the best of us, a talent that could help heart arrhythmia and asthma patients.

This caffeine fiend takes a molecule of the stimulant and uses an enzyme to break it down into carbon dioxide and ammonia. A team of researchers from University of Iowa isolated the gene responsible for this caffeine-digesting protein and have cloned it into E.Coli.

Now that it's in E. Coli, this enzyme can be produced mass produced for pharmaceuticals or other industries. It could be used in medicines to increase blood flow, treat heart arrhythmia, or help patients with asthma. It could also be used by coffee manufacturers to clean up excess caffeine left over from the decaffeination process. All this from an itty bitty microbe found in a flowerbed.
 
 

27 comments:

  1. phosportsMay 31, 2011 at 3:49 AM

    gives me an excuse for drinking more coffee

    ReplyDelete
  2. ScrewsAndFeathersMay 31, 2011 at 3:50 AM

    That's really cool! E. Coli is my favorite bacteria. :D

    ReplyDelete
  3. Patti D.May 31, 2011 at 3:56 AM

    Very cool and scary info!!

    You can visit my blog here.

    ReplyDelete
  4. logo messMay 31, 2011 at 4:21 AM

    hehe great news, i will get me a bunch of em :D

    ReplyDelete
  5. EngelhartMay 31, 2011 at 4:46 AM

    I don't consume that much caffeine, so I'll pass on the E. Coli, thanks.

    ReplyDelete
  6. LeshaMay 31, 2011 at 5:21 AM

    naah, i better stick to tea ^^

    ReplyDelete
  7. AnonymousMay 31, 2011 at 5:26 AM

    This makes me worried to stop by the cafe on the way to work

    ReplyDelete
  8. kxxthanxxMay 31, 2011 at 5:27 AM

    nice to know

    ReplyDelete
  9. TIMMYTHEROBOTMay 31, 2011 at 5:51 AM

    Interesting stuff, I'm not a caffeine drinker though. Cut the stuff a few months ago.

    ReplyDelete
  10. DejchMay 31, 2011 at 5:53 AM

    didn't know that.. so i won't feel bad after drinking coffie anymore

    ReplyDelete
  11. Kristof UnpronounceableMay 31, 2011 at 6:08 AM

    Hmmmloving my tasty ecoli coffee right now.

    ReplyDelete
  12. ZombieMay 31, 2011 at 6:08 AM

    Thats pretty dang interesting.

    ReplyDelete
  13. AnonymousMay 31, 2011 at 6:09 AM

    This is great!

    ReplyDelete
  14. NopeMay 31, 2011 at 6:36 AM

    I love it when they discover awesome stuff like that.

    ReplyDelete
  15. BigMikeMay 31, 2011 at 7:38 AM

    Uggg when ever i hear about them growing a new bacteria I just think of all the ways it could turn into a horror movie plot... Here i see a villian spreading the little guy all over Columbia, destroying the worlds supply of coffee

    ReplyDelete
  16. Blk JesusMay 31, 2011 at 8:02 AM

    very sweet! now i can eat and drink and the chocolate and soda i want maybe

    ReplyDelete
  17. VersionDoubleMay 31, 2011 at 8:14 AM

    interesting post, shame i dont drink coffee anymore!

    ReplyDelete
  18. RedHeadRobMay 31, 2011 at 8:28 AM

    I haven't even got my afternoon cup yet, damn man. I don't have a broken heart, but I am feeling lazy. lol

    ReplyDelete
  19. Max PowerMay 31, 2011 at 9:01 AM

    Too bad I hate caffeine.

    ReplyDelete
  20. duffboiMay 31, 2011 at 9:09 AM

    I wonder, can bacteria get hyper? hehe

    ReplyDelete
  21. freightblogMay 31, 2011 at 9:57 AM

    i stopped drinking coffee three weeks ago :/

    ReplyDelete
  22. DaveMay 31, 2011 at 10:33 AM

    Ill need to eat a lot of this then lol.

    ReplyDelete
  23. mMay 31, 2011 at 10:34 AM

    Gosh I hate coffee or any other caffeine drink. No thank you!

    ReplyDelete
  24. Skankin_PeteMay 31, 2011 at 11:05 AM

    So when the local taco bell got E. Coli it was actually a good thing! =O

    ReplyDelete
  25. trippinketsMay 31, 2011 at 12:21 PM

    interesting stuff

    ReplyDelete
  26. theunkownbloggerMay 31, 2011 at 1:42 PM

    Nice post! Very interesting read.

    ReplyDelete
  27. Athanasian ComplexioMay 31, 2011 at 8:20 PM

    Haha, this bacteria reacts better to coffee than I do.

    ReplyDelete