Bacteria day: acne and cholera

First: Did you know that light may be used to treat acne?

It appears that light in the 405nm-420nm range (it looks violet) activates a specific molecule (coproporphyrin III) that is found in the acne-causing bacterium Propionibacterium acnes. The molecule responds to the light by emitting free oxygen radicals, which then quickly destroy the bacteria. Because coproporphyrin III isn't found in human skin, this technique seems to be very safe. Concentrated amounts of this light in three-month treatments seem to have success, though no large-scale trials have been conducted yet.

Sources / More Reading:

• Wikipedia's two entries on the subject


• AcneNet | Are laser and light treatments really light years ahead of conventional acne therapy?
  

Second: Can something as simple as a folded piece of cloth can help stop cholera?

Rita Colwell... discovered if the [very common cotton sari] is folded about 10 times and dipped in the river when villagers gather water, it filters out -- among other things -- plankton containing a bacteria that causes cholera, a disease responsible for about 10,000 deaths a year in Third World countries... After more than 25 years of research and a three-year study in Matlab, Bangladesh, Colwell's filtration method reduced the number of cholera cases among villagers by half, she said.¹

Rita Colwell was just awarded a National Medal of Science for her extensive research into marine microbes, one of which being Vibrio cholerae, the cause of cholera.

J.B. Dill, a 19-year-old from Wisconsin, expanded upon this idea and invented a simple water filter that uses only cotton fabric and charcoal for use in Africa. He won a Net Aid Global Action Award for his work. Pretty cool.

Sources / More Reading:

• Wikipedia | Cloth Filter
  
• BBC News | Cloth filter could cut cholera deaths
  
• ¹Salem News | Nation honors scientist for lifesaving discovery
  
• National Science Foundation | President to Award 2005-2006 National Medals of Science and National Medals of Technology Honoring Nation's Leading Researchers, Inventors and Innovators
  
• Milwaukee Journal Sentinel | Teen's goal is crystal clear
  
• Net Aid | Global Action Award Nominees: 2007