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Articles on Antibiotic resistance

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While antimicrobial resistance is a threat to all humanity, a tale of two worlds emerges, highlighting the heightened vulnerability of low- and middle-income countries. (Shutterstock)

Antimicrobial resistance now hits lower-income countries the hardest, but superbugs are a global threat we must all fight

The contrasting realities of antimicrobial resistance between high-income countries and low- and middle-income countries demands international co-operation to effectively fight superbugs.
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Will we still have antibiotics in 50 years? We asked 7 global experts

We asked 7 global experts in microbiology and biochemistry if we are headed towards a future with no antimicrobial agents.
E. coli as a model organism helped researchers better understand how DNA works. Ed Horowitz Photography/The Image Bank via Getty Images

E. coli is one of the most widely studied organisms – and that may be a problem for both science and medicine

Researchers uncovered the foundations of biology by using E. coli as a model organism. But over-reliance on this microbe can lead to knowledge blind spots with implications for antibiotic resistance.
Antimicrobial resistance is now a leading cause of death worldwide due to drug-resistant infections, including drug-resistant strains of tuberculosis, pneumonia and Staph infections like the methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus shown here. (NIAID, cropped from original)

Removing antimicrobial resistance from the WHO’s ‘pandemic treaty’ will leave humanity extremely vulnerable to future pandemics

Drug-resistant microbes are a serious threat for future pandemics, but the new draft of the WHO’s international pandemic agreement may not include provisions for antimicrobial resistance.
Sub-Saharan African countries don’t have enough wastewater treatment plants. John Wessels/AFP via Getty Images

Wastewater is a valuable source of information – Africa’s scientists need to use it to find drug-resistant bacteria

Wastewater treatment plants receive wastewater from a variety of sources. This makes them useful proxies for determining the burden of antimicrobial resistance in communities.
Tolerant bacteria are dormant until an antibiotic threat has passed, then reemerge to conduct business as usual. Christoph Burgstedt/Science Photo Library via Getty Images

Looming behind antibiotic resistance is another bacterial threat – antibiotic tolerance

Antibiotic resistance has contributed to millions of deaths worldwide. Research suggests that any bacteria can develop antibiotic tolerance, and possibly resistance, when pushed to their limits.

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