Emily Chan
The locations that Romans chose for their baths were where they believed that the water had genuine medicinal powers.
To come to the conclusion that the baths in England had healing properties, the research team collected samples of water, sediment, and biofilm from different areas within the bathing complex.
The King’s Spring, known for its high water temperatures of up to 113 degrees Fahrenheit, and the Great Bath, with a maximum temperature of 86 degrees, were among the areas studied.
The scientists separated and isolated microbes with the antibiotic properties by utilizing genetic sequencing technology and bacterial culturing.
Overall, they managed to identify approximately 300 types of bacteria. Fifteen of the bacteria, or five percent, showed signs suggesting that they could prevent the spread of human pathogens like E. coli, Staphylococcus Aureus, and Shigella flexneri.
Some of the healing microbes grew the most in water with higher temperatures, while others thrived in water with lower temperatures.
Before these microbes can be used to create medicines, much more research needs to be done about the way they work.
Nevertheless, the discovery is pretty significant, especially since antimicrobial resistance is becoming more and more of a concern.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimate that antimicrobial resistance kills at least 1.27 million people worldwide.
The study was published in The Microbe.
