The evolution of antimicrobial resistance: a Darwinian perspective

Microbes have evolved over 3.5 billion years and are arguably the most adaptable organisms on Earth, inhabiting some of the inhospitable environments. It is then hardly surprising that when faced with a barrage of inimical chemicals (e.g. antibiotics) they have responded with an equal and opposite force. Sir Richard Sykes compares and contrasts the evolution of antimicrobial resistance to antibiotics over the last 70 years.

Microbes have evolved over 3.5 billion years and are arguably the most adaptable organisms on earth. Restricted genetically by their inability to reproduce sexually, bacteria have acquired several additional mechanisms by which to exchange genetic material. Such mechanisms have allowed bacteria to inhabit some of the most inhospitable environments on earth. It is then hardly surprising that when faced with a barrage of inimical chemicals (antibiotics) they have responded with an equal and opposite force.
Sir Richard will compare and contrast the evolution of antimicrobial resistance to B-lactam antibiotics over the last 70 years in two bacterial species, namely Staphylococcus aureus, a highly evolved human pathogen, and Pseudomonas aeruginosa, an opportunistic nosocomial pathogen.

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