GMOs are hotly debated as to how they might be good, or bad, for not only our bodies but also the environment as well. Yet most seem to not think twice about taking antibiotics to help get past a cold. Doing this through the years has changed the landscape in our bodies to the point where this wonderful ‘invention’ might very well become a thing of the past. When I hear the word ‘superbug’ in the news I think of some new monster that has powers beyond what has ever existed in the past. What if, however, this trend is more of a return to a natural state than a birth of some new monster? Something to think about…
This is an eloquent example of Darwinian evolution, albeit one with a depressing message: the golden age of antibiotics may be at an end. There are countless examples of the advance of resistance: one persistent stalker of hospital wards, methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus, has acquired full resistance to vancomycin, which is often billed as a last-ditch treatment. For the past few years the fear has been expressed again and again that we may be facing a return to a pre-antibiotic era, when the greatest cause of death was disease caused by bacteria and the local hospital was a hotbed of infection, the last place that you would want to be if you really wanted to get better.
Venter, J. Craig (2013-10-17). Life at the Speed of Light: From the Double Helix to the Dawn of Digital Life (p. 172). Penguin Group US. Kindle Edition.
Both of Venter’s books, the one referenced above and A Life Decoded: My Genome: My Life by J. Craig Venter (Oct 30, 2008), are must reads to understand a little bit of the history of how the software that runs life is starting to be more and more understood with each passing day.
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