I've often wondered how long it will take antibiotics to become effective again after we stop using them.
Presumably the organisms will drop their antibiotic resistant genes once the selection pressure has been removed. Either quickly because it is more costly or slowly through random mutations. Egyptian mummies are riddled with tetracycline and we now know that they brewed tetracycline in their beer, so everyone drank it all of the time. But tetracycline worked just fine when we rediscovered it.
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branchandroot
Re: Updates to Where There Is No Doctor book discussed on Darkhorse podcast
Date: 2023-06-17 04:48 am (UTC)Presumably the organisms will drop their antibiotic resistant genes once the selection pressure has been removed. Either quickly because it is more costly or slowly through random mutations. Egyptian mummies are riddled with tetracycline and we now know that they brewed tetracycline in their beer, so everyone drank it all of the time. But tetracycline worked just fine when we rediscovered it.