30,000-year-old bacteria contain genes linked to antibiotic resistance

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In sum -- no bacteria alive today was ever defenseless !  Nor any bacteria alive 30,000 years ago.


"Researchers Find Antibiotic Resistance in Ancient DNA"

The New York Times -- 31 August 2011


"Researchers at McMaster University in Ontario examined the DNA of 30,000-year-old bacteria taken from the Yukon permafrost and found that ancient bacteria harbored major genes responsible for resistance to antibiotics. 

"Antibiotic resistance is part of the natural ecology of the planet, and this finding is a cautionary note about how we use these things," said Gerard D. Wright, one of the researchers."

...

The discovery that the bacteria of 30,000 years ago had genes for antibiotic resistance underlines the danger of looking at bacteria from a purely medical perspective. Resistance to antibiotics is a defense that bacteria have developed in an arms race that has gone on for a billion years.       

“Our use and overuse of antibiotics is amplifying the phenomena dramatically,” Dr. Blaser said."


http://www.nytimes.com/2011/09/01/science/01gene.html?_r=1

[ first noted in BIO www.SmartBrief.com ]

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POSTED 02 September 2011 by:

David A. Palella
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