What’s the Dirt About Antibiotic Resistance?

Abstract

Two classes of chemotherapy are used against infectious diseases, synthetic drugs that are man-made in a lab and antibiotics, those that are derived from bacteria and fungi. Bacteria are capable of producing a variety of many different compounds in order to outcompete other microbes. Of the many components they produce, antibiotics have been of interest in many fields including medical and agriculture. Major advances in medicine and surgery due to antibiotics have saved patients’ lives by helping to extend life expectancy. However, pharmaceutical industries no longer consider antibiotic discovery an economically viable investment. The economics of producing new medication to treat antibiotic resistance is too high compared to medication for cancers, allergies, etc. Antibiotic-producing microbes can be found in many different environments. Soil microbes have been found to suppress or prevent many diseases caused by pathogens in agriculture or in livestock. Due to this extensive use of antibiotics, bacterial resistance has soon followed. Microbes would evolve to outcompete the antibiotic-producing microbes by synthesizing newer antibiotics that target these superbugs. In order to find a way to combat these resistances, new discoveries for antibiotics are needed. Soil has provided a great environment for undiscovered microbes. In this study, we are sampling soil in order to find antibiotic-producing microbes against common infectious pathogens.