And mucus membranes, Roossinck points out, are the points of entry for many bacterial pathogens, suggesting that they provide the first line of defense against invading bacteria. Viruses also provide a variety of services for plants. A few plants grow in the hot soils surrounding the geysers and the "Artists' Paintpots" of Yellowstone National Park.
One such plant, which is a type of tropical panic grass, is a symbiosis that includes a fungus that colonizes the plant, and a virus that infects that fungus. All three members of this symbiosis are necessary for survival in soils simmering at more than degrees Fahrenheit. In the laboratory, Roossinck has created symbioses between the same virus-infected fungus and other plants.
This has enabled every plant her group has tested to survive at these elevated soil temperatures, including tomato, she says, noting that she has pushed the soil temperature to degrees without killing the plant. Investigators have also found that certain viruses can render some plants drought tolerant, and at least one example of virally-conferred cold tolerance has been discovered-- discoveries that could become useful for expanding the ranges of crops.
Plants are often infected with "persistent viruses" that are passed down from generation to generation, perhaps over thousands of years, with viruses that are transmitted to nearly percent of their plant progeny, but that have never been shown to be transmitted from one plant to another.
Other beneficial viruses are the ancient retroviruses that long ago made a permanent home in the genome, or that left genes therein, said Roossinck. I was always a little disturbed at the bad rap they get, so it was very exciting for me to find good ones.
Materials provided by American Society for Microbiology. Note: Content may be edited for style and length. Science News. Similar to ethanol, isopropyl alcohol has some negative impact on human health and environment.
Hydrogen peroxide in low concentration as prescribed by WHO is reported safe for human health while have minimal impact on environment. Children are at more risk by increased usage of hand sanitizers. American Association of Poison Control Center reported alcoholic hand sanitizer exposure cases in children under the age of 12 years. In previously reported literature, it has been observed that overuse of alcohol based hand sanitizer results antimicrobial resistance, which can put more burdens on already struggling healthcare professionals.
Repeated exposure of disinfectant, antibiotics or other genotoxic chemicals to microbes tends them to get mutations through natural process that make them resistant to survive from repeated use of hand sanitizer. Maryam Eqan: Investigation, Writing - original draft. Saher Pervez: Investigation, Writing - original draft. Authors extend their appreciation to the Deanship of Scientific Research at King Khalid University for funding this work through research groups program under Grant No.
National Center for Biotechnology Information , U. Sci Total Environ. Published online Jun Author information Article notes Copyright and License information Disclaimer. Elsevier hereby grants permission to make all its COVIDrelated research that is available on the COVID resource centre - including this research content - immediately available in PubMed Central and other publicly funded repositories, such as the WHO COVID database with rights for unrestricted research re-use and analyses in any form or by any means with acknowledgement of the original source.
This article has been cited by other articles in PMC. Associated Data Supplementary Materials Supplementary tables. Abstract Till date no medication or vaccine is available to cope with the COVID infection and infection rate is increasing drastically across the globe.
Graphical abstract. Open in a separate window. Hazardous impact of hand sanitizers on human health Hand sanitizer results toxicity that leads to fatal, attributed by accidental ingestion Santos et al. Ethanol toxicity Ethanol has its widespread use as disinfectant along with oral consumption as alcoholic beverages. Table 1 Acute and chronic toxicity by active ingredients of hand sanitizers. Active ingredients Acute toxicity Chronic toxicity Source Ethanol Central nervous system and respiratory depression, Lactic acidosis, Ketoacidosis, Nausea Cardiac arrhythmia, Acute liver injury, Myoglobinuria, Hypokalemia, Hypomagnesemia, Hypocalcemia, Hypophosphatemia, Cardiac arrest and death Wilson et al.
Rhabdomyolysis, Myoglobinuria, Acute renal failure Zaman et al. Air embolism Death in rare cases Moon et al. Isopropyl alcohol toxicity Isopropyl based sanitizer intoxication is somehow in line of ethanol toxicity but is more intense compared to ethanol due to its higher molecular weight Wilson et al.
Hydrogen peroxide toxicity Toxicity of hydrogen peroxide is dependent on its concentration with ingestion as common route of exposure Food and drug administration FDA , Risk factor for children Most of hand sanitizers are available in brightly hued bottles and have appealing smell like candy or any food flavor which is very tempting to young children.
Table 3 No of exposure in children 12 years or younger with hand sanitizer in Month No. Increased risk of other viral diseases Medical experts have started to warn that excessive use of alcohol based hand sanitizer as a preventive measure against coronavirus indirectly increase the risk of infection through skin disorders. Antimicrobial resistance caused by over application of hand sanitizer Since coronavirus pandemic number of scientists, doctors and government advice community people for the best hygiene practices and protect them from COVID by using hand sanitizers Morgan, Toxic impacts on environment 6.
Ethanol Ethanol has its widespread use in industries and homes and its impacts on humans and environment are still debatable Pendlington et al. Little Brown Bat LD50 of 3. Iso propyl alcohol If large amounts of isopropanol are spilled on soil, it may get infiltrated and could contaminate the groundwater. Hydrogen peroxide According to ATSDR , hydrogen peroxide does not harm environment due to rapid reaction with other compounds.
Conclusion Frequent and increased use of hand sanitizer results toxicity that leads to fatal; may be attributed by accidental ingestion, absorption through dermal contact and suicidal ingestion.
Declaration of competing interest Authors declare there is no conflict of interest in this work. Acknowledgement Authors extend their appreciation to the Deanship of Scientific Research at King Khalid University for funding this work through research groups program under Grant No. Notes Editor: Henner Hollert. Appendix A. Supplementary data Supplementary tables Click here to view.
References Adelson L. Fatal intoxication with isopropyl alcohol rubbing alcohol Am. Percutaneous alcohol absorption and skin necrosis in a preterm infant. Archer J. Alcohol hand rubs: hygiene and hazard. Hospital ketosis in the alcoholic diabetic. BABEC, Material safety data sheet: isopropanol, reagent ACS. Bay Area biotechnology education consortium. Barrett M. Alcohol-based hand sanitiser: a potentially fatal toy. Use of alcohol-based hand sanitizers as a risk factor for norovirus outbreaks in long-term care facilities in northern New England: December to March Alcohol intoxication among Dutch adolescents: acute medical complications in the years — Phila ; 50 — A Case of Hand Sanitizer Intoxication.
Intoxication of a hospitalized patient with an isopropanol-based hand sanitizer. Fuller H. Isopropyl alcohol—an investigation of its physiologic properties. In: Teyssen M. Alkohol und Alkoholfolgekrankheiten Singer. Springer Medizin Verlag; Percutaneous alcohol intoxication. The rising incidence of intentional ingestion of ethanol-containing hand sanitizers.
Care Med. Clinical Toxicology of Commercial Products. Antibacterial effectiveness of commercially available hand sanitizers. Herny M. Hazardous substances data bank. Huang C. Clinical features of patients infected with novel coronavirus in Wuhan, China.
Appreciable blood-ethanol concentration after washing abraised and lacerated skin with surgical spirit. Transdermal resorption of an ethanol- and 2-propanol-containing skin disinfectant. Quantity of ethanol absorption after excessive hand disinfection using three commercially available hand rubs is minimal and below toxic levels for humans. BMC Infect. Inactivation of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 by WHO-recommended hand rub formulations and alcohols. Safety evaluation of topical applications of ethanol on the skin and inside the oral cavity.
The impact of topical antiseptics on skin microcirculation. Topical absorption of isopropyl alcohol induced cardiac and neurologic deficits in an adult female with intact skin. Matteucci M.
Isopropyl alcohol. Olson K. McBay A. Toxicological findings in fatal poisonings. Coma produced by topical application of isopropanol. PhysOrg; Heavy use of hand sanitizer boosts antimicrobial resistance. Retrieved from. Moss M. Alcohol-induced hypoglycemia and coma caused by alcohol sponging. Health, environmental, and economic impacts of adding ethanol to gasoline in the northeast states.
In the middle of the COVID pandemic, people are understandably furious at the coronavirus responsible for such widespread destruction and death. But not everything viruses do are inherently harmful. Thanks to their unique ability to worm into DNA, viruses can be used to inject genes into cells, which can reverse some genetic diseases.
For example, some viruses have been able to cure hemophilia , a blood disorder that prevents clotting. Viruses have also helped illuminate how the human mind works, using a technique called optogenetics. It involves the use of viruses that have been genetically modified with light-sensitive cell receptors lifted from green algae.
When injected into the brain, these viruses are able to modify the DNA of specific neurons, allowing them to be switched on or off by flashing those brain cells with blue light. By observing what happens when these switches are thrown, neuroscientists have developed new theories on how things like depression and addiction become ingrained in the brain. Phage therapy is actually older than antibiotics and attracted a lot of attention in the West before Alexander Fleming introduced penicillin.
Imagine if you took ibuprofen with the ability to reproduce itself and deploy the instance you had a headache. Some scientists are exploring using oncolytic viruses to pop cancer cells, which can make them very useful for dissolving tumors. Believe it or not, humans probably owe our entire existence to viruses, at least in part. One insertion at least 60 million years ago was a gene called syncytin, which spurred the evolution of the placenta.
Otherwise, a fetus would be gobbled up by white blood cells. But syncytin allows our genes to build a barrier between fetus and mother while still allowing the exchange of nutrients.
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