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In bacteria at least it's well-established that natural selection favours a smaller genome -- hence why antibiotic resistance will be dropped if the selective p
by dddddaviddddd 9y ago
In bacteria at least it's well-established that natural selection favours a smaller genome -- hence why antibiotic resistance will be dropped if the selective pressure is removed.
- danieltillett 9y agoUnfortunately, it is not dropped completely, just reduced in the bacterial population. It would seem a simple idea to just rotate antibiotics (use for a few years then put on the shelf for a few years), but once a bacterial pathogen acquires resistance it never really loses it and once you start using the the antibiotic again the resistance roars back very quickly.