Can the Mayan Underworld Save us? Discovering New Medicines in Ancient Sinkholes

Have you ever seen a sinkhole? Sinkholes are water-filled caves, and some sinkholes in Mexico hide cultural and medicinal secrets. For the ancient Mayan civilization, sinkholes were used as water sources and ceremonial sites. Now, scientists are trying to discover new drugs within them. The mud of sinkholes contains many bacteria that can help fight other harmful microbes. Just like the medicines doctors prescribe when you have a sore throat, these bacteria use special molecules to kill the bacteria and fungi that they compete with in their environment. Unfortunately, many harmful bacteria have become resistant to common antibiotics, meaning they have evolved such that some antibiotics are less effective against them. This is why developing new antibiotics is critical. By exploring new environments, like Mayan sinkholes, we can find bacteria that make molecules that can be used as new drugs to protect us from dangerous infections.