Routes of Resistance

Since the discovery of penicillin in 1929 and used on the battlefield during World War II, millions and millions of antibiotics were produced not only to treat infections but also to promote food production, as antibiotics have become a key ingredient in the American food chain. However, the emergence of antibiotic-resistant pathogenic bacteria can hardly come as a surprise. The overuse of antibiotics methodologically rewards any bacterium fortunate enough to carry a mutation that confers even slight resistance to the substance in its environment. Moreover, antibiotic resistance has morphed into a measurable cause of death. Generally, the widespread use of antibiotics in fighting infections has had profound implications for the evolution of infectious disease. The concentrations of many other antibiotics in natural ecosystems seem consistently too low to kill surrounding organisms effectively.