Hacker News Reader

Comment by peteretep | Hacker News Reader

    > but it looks like any treatment
    > based on this will still be
    > quite some way off

I came away with the opposite impression. Wouldn't you just need a targetted antibiotic?

View on HN

Fecal implant would be an obvious solution.

Eat shit and don't die

That's my bet too.

Now, if we can only get the FDA to allow it!

I also got the impression that the damage was done over years. Killing the bad bacteria now might not be enough to cure an existing case of Parkinsons.

Problem 1- targeting what? I don't think they've actually identified the specific bacteria, have they?

Problem 2- can you actually make an antibiotic specifically target one bacteria only?

Yes, in the form of a bacteriophage. They're well known, but limited normally because they are very species specific. But if you needed to kill exactly one type of bacteria, they'd be the tool to reach for.

Best i can tell, the problem is not just that they are picky eaters but that they also keep mutating. thus you can't just mix a batch and shelve it for later usage.

Reply on news.ycombinator.com