University research may slow antibiotic resistance to drugs

MOSCOW, Idaho (AP) - New research from the University of Idaho has identified two genetic mutations in bacteria that help explain how some bacteria evolve and retain resistance to multiple antibiotics.
The results, published Aug. 7 in Nature, could play a role in helping scientists slow or stop the spread of antibiotic resistance to multiple drugs, something responsible for 2 million infections and 23,000 deaths in the U.S. every year, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
The team, led by Eva Top, a professor at the university’s Department of Biological Sciences, focused on plasmids: small pieces of DNA that can be transferred between bacteria cells.
Plasmids aren’t part of a bacteria’s chromosomes and geneticists who study bacteria can tell plasmids apart from a bacteria’s own chromosomes. But they allow bacteria to transfer traits, including antibiotic resistance, from one bacterium to another.
“A bacterium that is sensitive to a set of antibiotics can within a few minutes time become resistant . because it receives this plasmid from other bacteria,” Top said.

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University research may slow antibiotic resistance to drugs

University research may slow antibiotic resistance to drugs

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