3 ms·

Possibly, but there are a handful of synthetic compounds that aren't in the "book of life," as it were, and it would therefore be a large evolutionary leap for

Possibly, but there are a handful of synthetic compounds that aren't in the "book of life," as it were, and it would therefore be a large evolutionary leap for bacteria to develop the necessary machinery to metabolize those compounds or synthesize counter-agents. Certainly not implying it's impossible, the rate at which bacteria reproduce gives ample opportunity for mutational evolution, so relative to more complex organisms they are well positioned to develop immunities to novel synthetics. But it isn't necessarily guaranteed that the mechanism exists for it to happen.

busyant 4y ago
> Certainly not implying it's impossible, I agree. Never say "never." But a lot of the time, resistance is simply a matter of tinkering with target of the antibiotic (add a methyl group here and, voila! the antibiotic no longer binds effectively). Then there are multi-drug efflux pumps (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Efflux_(microbiology) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Efflux_(microbiology)) that "indiscriminately" toss shit out of the bacterial cell.