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Evolution and adaptation fundamentally ^. Bacterial growth is essentially logarithmic / exponential - so all it takes is a few bacterial cells to have a chance
by dfsegoat 8y ago
Evolution and adaptation fundamentally ^.
Bacterial growth is essentially logarithmic / exponential - so all it takes is a few bacterial cells to have a chance mutation which affords the resistance to $THING, and the population is back to growing fine in the presence of $THING, and is ready to spread those beneficial mutations with other bacteria (in a hospital drain system for instance [1,2]).
$THING could be antibiotics, hand sanitizer - etc.
This basic principle is taught by example in every intro to microbiology / molecular bio laboratory course.
1. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Horizontal_gene_transfer https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Horizontal_gene_transfer
2. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4117541/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4117541/
(^) Edit after downvotes: My only point was that the underlying mechanism is somewhat irrelevant - bacteria will always find a way to break down things humans put in their environment, even Nylon or radiation.
- tootie 8y agoBut this is equivalent to humans evolving to drink lava isn't it?
- nashashmi 8y agoAnd humans becoming more tolerant of the heat and regenerating cells and tissue quickly enough to survive.
- dfsegoat 8y agoI see what you are getting at - but it's all about pressure and selection. For instance Sickle Cell anemia is hypothesized to actually be a defense we evolved against malaria: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Human_genetic_resistance_to_malaria https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Human_genetic_resistance_to_ma... People that had that mutation were better able to fight off malarial infections in those environments where it was prevalent - and those genes now are passed on specifically in certain ethnicities, etc.
- dfsegoat 8y agoAnd likely to other simple organisms which feed exclusively on gamma radiation - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Radiotrophic_fungus https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Radiotrophic_fungus Or those bacteria that feed on bi-products of Nylon manufacture - because their environment is rife with wastewater from it: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nylon-eating_bacteria https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nylon-eating_bacteria
- lostlogin 8y agoIt’s probably more like humans evolving to drink alcohol, which not all primates tolerate well. Admitedly here is a difference between drinking it at 10% strength and bathing in 60%. https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/origins-of-human-alcohol-consumption-revealed/ https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/origins-of-human-... http://www.sciencemag.org/news/2014/12/ability-consume-alcohol-may-have-shaped-primate-evolution http://www.sciencemag.org/news/2014/12/ability-consume-alcoh...