Radiation mutating & strengthening bacteria?

This theory has risen from a recent thread I posted regarding how bacteria are blooming in the oceans. As the thread progressed and I was conducting more research, it dawned on me that the radiation from Japan may be causing the bacterial bloom we're now seeing in the oceans.

From what I've read, it appears that bacteria are not killed by radiation. It also seems as though it is mutated and strengthened by it. I also came across some information discussing how sunflowers harbor a type of bacteria that destroys the plants' cells. I'm now wondering what will happen to this bacteria if and when Japan plants the abundance of sunflowers to aborb the radiation from the soil, how will this radiation affect the bacteria within the plant? Will it mutate it and cause it to attack other plants? Will it mutate the sunflowers that will be growing from the irradiated seeds?

There are just so many questions that I've decided that this topic deserved another thread where we could specifically discuss radiation and bacteria. Not just the bacterial bloom in the oceans that the original thread was about.

Here is the information I've dug up regarding radiation and bacteria:
This is what I found:

Radiation-resistant bacteria encompass eight species of bacteria in a genus known as Deinococcus. The prototype species is Deinococcus radiodurans. This and the other species are capable of not only survival but of growth in the presence of radiation that is lethal to all other known forms of life.

An instantaneous dose of 500 to 1000 rads of gamma radiation is lethal to a human. However, Deinococcus radiodurans is unaffected by exposure to up to 3 million rads of gamma radiation. Indeed, the bacterium, whose name translates to "strange berry that withstands radiation," holds a place in The Guinness Book of World Records as "the world's toughest bacterium."

www.bookrags.com...

I found this more complicated expose from the Bhabha Atomic Research Center in India, but I'm unable to copy the text. It's worth a read if you have the time:
www.jstor.org...

Then, there's this about bacteria on Europa:

E. coli love moderate temperatures around 37 C (98.6 F), and a neutral pH of 7. The sulfur-oxidizing hyperthermophile Sulfolobus shibatae grows best at an extremely acidic pH of 2 and at temperatures around 80 C (176 F). D. radiodurans can survive the harsh ionizing and ultra-violet radiation of space, as well as extreme cold, vacuum conditions, and oxidative damage.

The distorted infrared readings indicate that the colored patches are composed of water bound to some other material. Many scientists believe that a mixture of salt minerals or sulfuric acid contained in the ice best explains the spectra. The salts could be further evidence of a salty ocean lying beneath the ice, as is indicated by magnetometer data from the Galileo spacecraft.

www.astrobio.net...

So, from this last source, if I'm comprehending it correctly, bacteria and is where Europa gets its color from, which just happens to hint to scientists that Europa may be covered with oceans. Please read the entire article to come to your own conclusion. I find the combination of bacteria, salt water, and radiation to be of particular interest.

So, regarding the minimal amount of research and experimentation that has been done with bacteria and its reaction/behavior when exposed to radiation makes me wonder if our oceans are going to become seething cess pools of bacteria due to the Japan disaster.

Then, there's this information. As I mentioned earlier, does anyone know whether or not Japan is proceeding with their sunflower sucking radiation plan?
Besides the nuclear waste it will create, it has been discovered that sunflowers harbor bacteria.

Thirty-eight of the 61 isolates of bacteria obtained from diseased and healthy sunflower leaves inhibited the germination of conidia and growth of germ-tubes of Alternaria helianthi in vitro. Inhibition included reduced conidial germination, germ-tube swelling causing vesicle formation, excessive germ-tube branching, lysis of germ-tubes, absence of sporulation and a reduced rate of hyphal growth. Some bacteria appeared to be endoparasitic, persisting inside the lumina of conidia and causing erosion of the conidium wall which resulted in the destruction of conidial cells. Bacteria attached themselves to conidia, hyphae and conidiophores and, in the field, are probably dispersed with the fungus. Five bacterial isolates that showed a high level of inhibition were identified as members of the genus Bacillus and -comprised three species, B. subtilis, B. cereusand B. mycoides.

www.publish.csiro.au...
Not to mention the fact that fungus has a role in the dispersal, how are fungi affected by radiation?
Here's a link to an article about how radiation affects fungi: (Please click on the link to read it.)
onlinelibrary.wiley.com...
Concerning the book:

Work done in part under an American Cancer Society Grant recommended by the Committee on Growth of the National Research Council, and in part under grants from The Rockefeller Foundation and The Nutrition Foundation, Inc.

Am I surprised that the Rockefeller Foundation is funding radiation research? No.

Then, this article happened to pop up today.

Japanese researchers made the finding after testing 259 MRSA strains for susceptibility to bacitracin and neomycin, two of the antibacterial ingredients commonly found in over-the-counter ointments like Neosporin and Polysporin. Resistance to bacitracin and neomycin was only found in USA300, a type of MRSA found in the United States.

www.wftv.com...

What are we seeing here? If I'm understanding all of this information correctly, it appears that the first and most simplistic organisms are not killed by radiation, but are becoming more powerful.
We do need to be concerned about this because humans and animals are not going to become more powerful because of radiation. It seems as though our enemies are.

Well, I'm not a doctor, microbiologist, or even a biologist, but it just seems as though we are going to have a lot more than just a bad cold season to worry about in the coming months.

Can anyone more knowledgeable than myself shed some light on what may be going on?


(Original thread: www.abovetopsecret.com...)

reply to post by Afterthought


it would definetley increase the chance of mutation. mix that with increasing use of antibiotics and you have disaster
if people want a realistic extincition level event
super bugs are it!
its a matter of when not if

reply to post by Afterthought


it would definetley increase the chance of mutation. mix that with increasing use of antibiotics and you have disaster
if people want a realistic extincition level event
super bugs are it!
its a matter of when not if

I agree with you and I've got to say that I'm seeing an epidemic or pandemic getting ready to be unleashed.

Considering the nuclear power plant in Virginia that was shaken up and with more earthquakes on the horizon, how bacteria is affected by radiation needs to be more closely examined.

It's quite unfortunate that bacteria and roaches are the ones who aren't killed by radiation. Go figure!

reply to post by Afterthought


The radiation would increase the rate of mutation. Most mutations are not beneficial and many are lethal. No organisms would benefit from radiation exposure. However, the individual organisms that are more resistant to radiation than others would survive better and would produce more offspring relative to the individuals being killed by the radiation. If those organisms' resistance to radiation has a genetic basis, the resistance would be passed on to their offspring. So the non-resistant individuals would be dying off due to the effects of the radiation, while the resistant individuals would thrive and reproduce unhindered by the radiation. What will be left is bacteria that is more resistant to radiation.

This is nothing to be concerned about. The bacterial populations are worse off after radiation exposure because many individuals would die. The survives are the ones that happen to be more resistant to the effects of radiation, but they're not "more powerful." The radiation isn't good for them, and it doesn't make them grow more, it's just that it doesn't kill them.

The trait that allowed the surviving bacteria to survive is resistance to radiation. That's what lets them flourish in conditions that would kill other bacteria. They're not any more harmful to their hosts, they won't have different pathologies, and the population won't grow any faster in the presence of radiation. It's just that in the presence of radiation the resistant bacteria won't be negatively affected. They won't become more successful in any way except in that they can survive radiation.

Radiation exposure doesn't at all resemble the superhero scenario where someone gains abilities by getting exposed to something radioactive. Radiation destroys DNA, it induces random mutations that almost always impairs the functioning of genes or their products. Rarely, positive mutations occur and new functionality is gained, but radiation causes a very large number of negative or neutral mutations for every positive one. Being exposed to radiation is not a way to become "more powerful." The best case scenario is that the organism becomes resistant to the radiation, in which case the only ability it would have gained is the ability to function normally in radioactive environments.

reply to post by OnceReturned


bacteria cells and viruses find it a lot easier to adapt tho
remember we are giving them the genetic info through cells that we alter to create cures and such, if its being given to them then they dont need to wait for chance to give them the right mutation

No source because i'm too lazy to walk down and back up four flights of stairs to get a dang textbook, but just this past week in my microbiology class I read a caption next to a picture of Treponema pallidum (the bacterium that causes syphilis) and the caption read that NASA had been doing some experimentation and this particular critter got way more infectious *and* lethal when cultured in zero G.

Ugh. Can you imagine a space cold as easily transmissible but 10x deadlier? Human race would be eliminated in weeks.

reply to post by UniverSoul


I see what you're say about how when we genetically engineer organisms they can be made better at certain tasks, but I don't know what that has to do with radiation induced mutations. Our engineered organisms require thousands of man hours to understand and design, and we need to procure the genes we want to add or other highly complex and specific molecules when we want to delete genes. Then we have to do planned, structured procedures in a laboratory using technology and synthetic compounds. We have to do all that to make sure the mutation is correct and adds the functionality that we want. Radiation doesn't do any of those things, it just mutates genes randomly. It's inconceivable that the results of genetic engineering could be achieved by a random process like radiation mutation. It would be like filling a bucket up at a junk yard then dumping it out on your driveway and expecting to find a working am/fm radio. It doesn't occur randomly - only under highly controlled, complicated, and sophisticated conditions.

Thanks to everyone who contributed their thoughts and insight to this thread, especially OnceReturned. Your first posting was a wealth of information.

Unfortunately, I believe that we may be seeing things soon that we never expected and we need to keep our eyes and ears open for any news and research related to this.

In regards to treating bacteria, I've found that oil of oregano and a 10 day treatment of colloidal silver works wonders against bacterial infections. I recently started an Oil of Oregano regiment to treat a skin infection doctors couldn't cure. After taking 3 pills a day, the infection started to clear up after the second day. After two weeks, I started with Colloidal Silver to give the infection one last punch. I now have four days remaining in the Colloidal Silver treatment, but all I have left now is scar tissue where the infection was.

Here's some info about the benefits of Oil of Oregano:

Numerous university studies have shown that Oil of Oregano is a highly potent purifier that provides many benefits for human health. It is a natural substance that is extracted from wild oregano plants, and two key compounds found in it are carvacrol and thymol. Studies have shown that both of these compounds have significant effects on harmful micro-organisms that cause many illnesses in humans.

www.homeremediesweb.com...

So why would you want to take oregano oil? Research has shown that oregano oil contains carvacrol and thymol; ingredients that are effective against E. coli, Listeria, Salmonella and specific strains of fungi.

Oregano oil also contains a substance called rosmarinic acid; an anti- oxidant and antihistamine which may help reduce allergic reactions and fight free radical formation in your body. Learn how these ingredients make oregano oil "Nature's Most Powerful Germ Killer!"

www.healthy-oil-planet.com...
(Strangely enough, I also has three lumps in my breast prior to taking the Oil of Oregano. One lump had already been determined to be a cyst, but I was awaiting another mammogram for the other two that had come up. After taking the Oil of Oregano for one week, all of the lumps and sensitivity were gone! I'm not a doctor, but I would be interested to see if any other women experience this same result if they currently have cysts in their breasts and/or painful sensitivity.)

Concerning the Colloidal Silver, there is plenty of information out there that is easily researched. I highly recommend that this research be done before deciding to take it.
DO NOT TAKE IT FOR LONGER THAN 10 DAYS! This is very important as it can lead to this:

Argyria is a condition of excess silver in the body. The estimated amount of silver accumulation over a one-year period that is required to produce argyria is 1 to 5 grams. This amount is very large compared to the 50 mcg typically recommended and consumed by people using over the counter colloidal silver products.

www.raysahelian.com...

I personally haven't experienced any negative side effects from the Oil of Oregano or the Colloidal Silver, but everyone's different.

I'm not a doctor, just someone who cares and would like to pass along my own experiences with a holistic treatment regiment and my results. Please, always do your research and remember that everyone's different and may not achieve the same results I have experienced. Best wishes!