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Sonophotocatalysis – An Effective Way to Disinfect Pathogens from Engineered Water Bodies
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Mr. Habeeb Rahman A.P.*
Email: habeebrahmanap@gmail.com
How obvious has it become that in every other movie, there is this superhero saving the world from aliens? Have not
we somehow come in terms with an illusion that there lies a heroic solution to every problem? But, who is actually going to rescue mankind from the aftermath of situations that it itself has created, just like the overt apocalypse currently happening due to the ability of microbes to resist the action of antimicrobials, also known as antimicrobial resistance (AMR)? All thanks to us, for the uncontrolled and improper use of antimicrobials in various sectors! Considering the mounting evidence of the rise in AMR and decline in the discovery of new antimicrobial compounds/disinfection strategies to combat AMR, we are left with no options other than believing in the predictions
of the UK government that AMR is projected to cause 10 million deaths per year, surpassing the mortality rate of cancer. If so, it would be an enormous loss and burden to the world economy, afflicting the balance of living standards all over the globe. What if water, the elixir of life, and wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) are one of the major culprits behind this evolution and dissemination of AMR? Sad, but true! Although designed to remove contaminants from water, most of the WWTPs are failing to stand against the brilliance of microbes in overriding the treatment facilities. Unfortunately, these WWTPs are rather acting as a niche for the surviving microbes to evolve against the treatment procedures via many subcellular mechanisms such as gene mutations, horizontal gene transfer, epigenetic
* Mr. Habeeb Rahman A.P, PhD Scholar from School of Biotechnology, Kalinga Institute of Industrial Technology, Odisha, is pursuing his research on “Sonophotocatalytic Process Mediated Elimination of Water-Borne Antimicrobial and Highly Virulent Bacteria in Engineered Water Bodies”. His popular science story entitled “Sonophotocatalysis- an Effective Way to Disinfect Pathogens from Engineered Water Bodies” has been selected for AWSAR Award.