Michael Gillings
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Antibiotic Pollution Of Waterways May Create Superbugs Of Tomorrow
A team from Macquarie University has proved for the first time that even low concentrations of antibiotics are polluting waterways, according to a study published today in Frontiers in Microbiology. Using low, realistic concentrations of antibiotics that might be found in waste water, the team showed a series of worrying effects on both environmental and clinical bacteria, including rearrangements of the bacterial DNA, changes in the colonies that the bacteria form, and most importantly, the evolution of antibiotic-resistant strains.
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How Antibiotic Pollution Of Waterways Creates Superbugs
Humans pollute the world with many chemicals and some of these affect living things, even at very low concentrations. Endocrine-disrupting compounds, which interfere with hormones, are a good example, but recently more concern has been raised about pollution with antibiotics. The problem is that up to 80% of an antibiotic dose passes straight through the body. So most of the antibiotics used in medical treatment or during animal production may end up in waste water. And waste treatment plants generally don’t remove antibiotics very well. Antibiotic pollution also comes from spreading manure on crop land, or using sewage as fertilizer. Waste water released from hospitals and antibiotic production plants is another major source.
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Superbugs on the Shore: Bacteria in Estuaries Have Genes for Antibiotic Resistance That Could End Up in Us
An international group of researchers, including Professor Michael Gillings from Macquarie University, have reported that pollution with antibiotics and resistance genes is causing potentially dangerous changes to local bacteria in estuaries. Polluting antibiotic agents in these waterways, they say, help the bacteria to acquire genes that make them less responsive to antibiotics – known as antibiotic resistance genes. These genes could then enter our food chain when we eat aquatic animals from these areas...
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