Though well - known pathogens weren't seen in abundance, the presence
of genes for antibiotic resistance, resistance to water disinfectants and virulence raises concerns because bacteria can share such genes to potentially become more significant health threats.
As scientists puzzle over
how genes for antibiotic resistance arise in various environments and what risks to human health they might pose, one team has identified a surprising way some of these genes are getting into ocean sediments: through food for marine fisheries.
They designed their RNA guide strands to
target genes for antibiotic resistance, including the enzyme NDM - 1, which allows bacteria to resist a broad range of beta - lactam antibiotics, including carbapenems.
Over the past 60 years,
genes for antibiotic resistance have gone from rare to commonplace in the microbes that routinely infect our bodies.
They added chrysotile minerals, bacterial DNA molecules called plasmids that had
genes for antibiotic resistance, and silica beads representing inert rock.
A plasmid, a simple kind of DNA - delivery vehicle, will move
a gene for antibiotic resistance into the bacterial cells, jump - starting the Crispr - Cas9 system.
But bacteria can pass on
the genes for antibiotic resistance, so any source of resistance is concerning.
Thanks to this flaw, such bacteria would alter their own genes faster than normal as well as take in DNA from other bacteria more readily.Because
the genes for antibiotic resistance often travel between bacteria on foreign DNA, the FDA group's findings could account for the rapid spread of resistance among Salmonella and E. coli strains, says Philip Hanawalt, an expert on DNA repair at Stanford University.
Students introduce
a gene for antibiotic resistance into the bacterium E. coli.