Evening star., 1949-10-07
South American Soil Study
Aids Fiqht on | iniestG Germs
New Source of Antibiotics Sought
To Treat Microbe- Caused Disease
Bv Thomas r. Henry

NEW HAVEN Oct. 7-Thousands Of soil
samples gathered all over South America
are being analyzed here for bacteria. moulds
and other micro-or organisms which may Sc
crete substances valuable in the treatment
of microbe- caused diseases.
Already there have been isolated from
them materials which appear to have some
value against tuberculosis, amoebic dysen-
terry and typhoid fever, against which the
known antibiotics such as chloromycetln
and aureomycetin have little value.
One organism has been 1ouno wnlcn
seems a rather prolific producer Of Vita
min BIZ. the material first isolated from
liver about three years ago. which is OF
extreme value against pernicious anemla
and is probably the most powerful biologi-
cal material In existence. Although admin.
istered to patients in tholiSandths OF grams
it still is so difficult to produce and scarce
that the supply is far below the demand. 1t
may be, says DR.. Paul Burkholder, OF the
Yale faculty, that the microscopic soil Or
ganism from South America may be the
answer to this.
Substance E Possible.
There also is possibility that some OF
the organisms will be found to produce the
extremely scarce Substance E which holds
out high hopes for arthritis sufferers.
The quest in this direction started four
years ago when Dr. Burkholder found in
sample of soil from ploughed field near
Caracas, Venezuela, micro organism which
produced material which proved active
against the germs Of typhus fever. This
was chloromycetin.
This was one of the most notable medical
discoveries of the generation. Typhus and
a few other malades are caused by micro
organisms known as rickettsia. They are
g. o11o tlov, thn 11ocf hon
dividing line between them and the filterable
viruses-causers of the common cold, influ-
enza, mumps, poliomyelitis and the like is
very thin. For the first time medicine had
its hands on something which promised to
be effective against these ultra-minute living
things which get inside the cells of the body
where they are safe against the sulfa drugs,
penicillin. and the like.
DR.. Burkholder is driven in his search by
the possibility of finding new substances Of
equal value Every organism found is tested.
Any soil sample contains rather wide va
riety. He is especially interested in the OBJ
scure class known as actinomycetes, which
appear to be q mixture of bacteria and
moulds.
Chances should be particularly good in
South America soils, he believes. Man has
lived there a long time and has suffered
from the various microbe-caused diseases.
With the death Of their victims these have
gone into the soil. There they themselves
may have become the prey of other micro
organisms which evolved special secretions
to kill them. These, DR.. Burkholder believes,
still survive.
Conditions for Survival.
The same, of course. might be true Of
North America but the special South Ameri-
can conditions of warmth and humidity give
the organisms greater chance to survive.
The present mounting collection was the
result of 20,000-mile airplane trip by one
of DR.. Burkholder's assistants in which the
cooperation of hundreds of collectors scat
tered all over the continent was secured.
Specimens still are arriving almost daily.
The great hope is to find something effec-
with the electron microscope which are re-
sponsib]e for such diseases as poliomyelitiS
and the various forms of encephalitis, or
brain inhammations. Thus far nothing has
been found. so far as can be determined by
animal experiments, although a few at first
have shown some promise.
DR.. Burkholder also is working with q
large collection gathered last summer from
all parts of Canada, especially along the
southern edge from coast to coast. OF par
ticular interest are a collection from the
rich uranium district near Great Slav Lake
in the Far North. Such organisms have
evolved for countless centuries in soil rich
in radio activity. There is high probability
that this has caused some striking mutations
of species.