I thought the reason modern bacteria has grown resistant is largely bc of the overuse of antibiotics in animal agriculture, essentially the bacteria have been exposed to antibiotics a lot and are now more commonly resistant. This explanation wouldn't work for bacteria from 5000 years ago tho or am I missing something?
Recently, selection due to overuse of antibiotics has helped spread the prevalence of antibiotic resistance genes.
But they already existed in the population.
They didn't come into existence recently, they just got selected, and became more common.
The antibiotic wars have been happening for billions of years between bacteria and themselves and fungi, and occasionally some archaea and other eukaryotes.
There are tons of bacteria in the permafrost that are literally just surviving for many thousands of years (before humans changed everything), and they have resistance to modern antibiotics, because "modern" antibiotics work on compounds we found that are produced by other bacteria and fungi.
Another large part of antibiotic resistance is simple efflux of foreign compounds from the bacteria cell via transport/shuttle proteins in the cell wall.
These already exist naturally and their expression can upregulated as needed.
Guess which bacteria, historic or modern, survive best if you throw a load of antibiotics at them? Yep the ones that respond by upregulating efflux and kicking out the antibiotics from their cells.
i guess the misunderstanding largely comes from how i interpreted the title, i thought the resistance to antibiotics would be comparable to modern bacteria which have selected for becoming more resistant.
so essentially the title if not the entire article is clickbait because any bacteria is gonna have SOME amount of resistance to antibiotics since they are made from naturally occuring fungi and whatever else produced them over the years.
when i said the explanation doesnt work i was assuming the 5000 year old bacteria showed a level of resistance that would suggest it also was exposed to a lot of antibiotics when it evolved similar to how modern bacteria evolved to grow more and more resistant to antibiotics
Is the resistance the same? Old bacteria possess the same mutations that lead to antibiotics resistance or is it that old bacteria have difference in structure (cell wall or ribosomes) so that modern antibiotics don't work on them?
"The team drilled a 25-meter core from a part of the cave known as the Great Hall. That single column of ice preserved a frozen record stretching back 13,000 years.
To keep modern microbes out, the scientists handled the ice with care. They placed fragments in sterile bags and kept them frozen during transport.
Back in the lab, the researchers isolated different bacterial strains and sequenced their genomes. That let them see which genes help the bacteria survive in low temperatures and which ones are tied to antimicrobial resistance and activity.
Psychrobacter belongs to a group of bacteria adapted to cold environments. Some species can infect humans or animals."
Basicly-Inevitable | 23 hours ago
Modern bacteria show resistance to modern antibiotics.This is a complete non-story.
I worked on antibiotics for decades.
There's actually nothing new or interesting here.
Antibiotics only work in several ways.
doc_witt | 23 hours ago
This is something a frozen bacteria from 5000 years ago would say. I'm on to you!
Edit: corrected number
Basicly-Inevitable | 22 hours ago
I'm already on you.
I remember. 3000 years ago.
Sinistraministra | 12 hours ago
Isildur!
Ambitious-Pirate-505 | 20 hours ago
Yeah, this guy is obviously a shill for Big Bacteria
Basicly-Inevitable | 19 hours ago
Some bacteria are seriously big.
Impressive-Card9484 | 18 hours ago
Bacteria: "We begin with only one..."
Archaius_ | 22 hours ago
I thought the reason modern bacteria has grown resistant is largely bc of the overuse of antibiotics in animal agriculture, essentially the bacteria have been exposed to antibiotics a lot and are now more commonly resistant. This explanation wouldn't work for bacteria from 5000 years ago tho or am I missing something?
Basicly-Inevitable | 22 hours ago
Yeah you're missing a lot.
Recently, selection due to overuse of antibiotics has helped spread the prevalence of antibiotic resistance genes.
But they already existed in the population.
They didn't come into existence recently, they just got selected, and became more common.
The antibiotic wars have been happening for billions of years between bacteria and themselves and fungi, and occasionally some archaea and other eukaryotes.
There are tons of bacteria in the permafrost that are literally just surviving for many thousands of years (before humans changed everything), and they have resistance to modern antibiotics, because "modern" antibiotics work on compounds we found that are produced by other bacteria and fungi.
VicodinMakesMeItchy | 21 hours ago
Thank you! As an animal cell biologist, I hadn’t thought of this. I appreciate you sharing your expertise!
BadahBingBadahBoom | 21 hours ago
Another large part of antibiotic resistance is simple efflux of foreign compounds from the bacteria cell via transport/shuttle proteins in the cell wall.
These already exist naturally and their expression can upregulated as needed.
Guess which bacteria, historic or modern, survive best if you throw a load of antibiotics at them? Yep the ones that respond by upregulating efflux and kicking out the antibiotics from their cells.
Archaius_ | 20 hours ago
i guess the misunderstanding largely comes from how i interpreted the title, i thought the resistance to antibiotics would be comparable to modern bacteria which have selected for becoming more resistant.
so essentially the title if not the entire article is clickbait because any bacteria is gonna have SOME amount of resistance to antibiotics since they are made from naturally occuring fungi and whatever else produced them over the years.
when i said the explanation doesnt work i was assuming the 5000 year old bacteria showed a level of resistance that would suggest it also was exposed to a lot of antibiotics when it evolved similar to how modern bacteria evolved to grow more and more resistant to antibiotics
RollinThundaga | 20 hours ago
Overuse and underuse at the same time.
People failing to complete the course of antibiotics as described using their own bodies to breed antibiotic resistant microbes.
InfinityAero910A | 21 hours ago
Could they have some of the original genes of modern bacteria that have the resistance? Potentially being their ancestors?
Basicly-Inevitable | 21 hours ago
Yes.
Rumple-Wank-Skin | 20 hours ago
Is the resistance the same? Old bacteria possess the same mutations that lead to antibiotics resistance or is it that old bacteria have difference in structure (cell wall or ribosomes) so that modern antibiotics don't work on them?
Vocal_1 | 23 hours ago
Put that thing back where you found it!
infiniteartifacts | 22 hours ago
or so help me!
Basicly-Inevitable | 22 hours ago
Mom?
infiniteartifacts | 22 hours ago
*Mike
Basicly-Inevitable | 22 hours ago
Don't EVEN get me started.
NeverEndingCoralMaze | 18 hours ago
A better tomorrow, todayyyyyyy 👐👐👐
64-17-5 | 15 hours ago
You do that. Wash your hands after.
1leggeddog | 21 hours ago
Oh great more horrors beyond our comprehension awaiting to fuck our shit up
[OP] lebron8 | 23 hours ago
"The team drilled a 25-meter core from a part of the cave known as the Great Hall. That single column of ice preserved a frozen record stretching back 13,000 years.
To keep modern microbes out, the scientists handled the ice with care. They placed fragments in sterile bags and kept them frozen during transport.
Back in the lab, the researchers isolated different bacterial strains and sequenced their genomes. That let them see which genes help the bacteria survive in low temperatures and which ones are tied to antimicrobial resistance and activity.
Psychrobacter belongs to a group of bacteria adapted to cold environments. Some species can infect humans or animals."
RuthlessIndecision | 20 hours ago
of course it does
lilith96 | 22 hours ago
"Human species wiped out by ancient bacteria or vitus" is on my bingo card. Anyone else?
Automatic-Source6727 | 16 hours ago
In my limited understanding, there are pretty much always trade-offs when it comes to adapting for specific things.
So danger of being completely wiped out is pretty negligible, but could still kill an absolute shitload of us.
No such thing as unstoppable pathogen though, i think
ArtichokeMammoth7441 | 18 hours ago
Oh yeah buddy' how long does this shit live dormant? 230,000 years? Global warming and a highly receptive population?
Get your black plague suits ready....
BigJSunshine | 18 hours ago
Cool. Cool, cool, cool, cool.
jkurratt | 10 hours ago
"obviously".
alternatingflan | 20 hours ago
So let’s cut more research, right krasnov!
Black6host | 17 hours ago
AKA modern antibiotics target modern bacteria.
Mountain-Resource656 | 8 hours ago
Well yeah; I’d imagine the antibiotics developed to treat one kind of bacteria probably don’t affect other kinds without a reason why they should
smurfk | 17 hours ago
Isn't that rather normal?
narcowake | 11 hours ago
Up next : the Great Culling
RegisMonkton | 22 hours ago
RemindMe! in 3 days.