The Evolution of Resistance

itchy
Green Thumb
by Brett Bakker

The Evolution of Resistance
Naw, this isn’t about the early anti-WTO movement or the Mujahadeen (although they’d make great topics!). I’m talking ’bout resistance of pests to pesticides and antibiotics (I’ll here include bacteria and viruses, necessary to the web of life as are insects but nevertheless at times pests to us humanoids).

Evolutionary adaptation and resistance is quite natural and to be expected but (in the words of Stephen R. Palumbi in Science, 9/7/01) we’ve created an “accelerated evolution” by massive (over)use of chemicals and drugs. He points out that by the time the Nobel Prize was given for development of DDT as an insecticide in 1948, houseflies were doing some development of their own: resistance to the stuff! Hundreds of insect and weed species have grown resistant to our vast arsenal of chemical weaponry, hence the constant need for new and stronger pesticides in ever more dangerous costs to health and safety not to mention public funds.

The ubiquity of antibiotics has increased resistance too in bacteria and viruses.
The average American is willing to scarf down an antibiotic for the slightest sniffle.

As you may have heard me riff on before, some antibacterial products used each day like certain handsoaps or lotions contribute to increased resistance. As well, antibiotics are used in commercial livestock production not only as treatment but as regular regime.

And some GMO crops have been created by using antibiotics as carriers so that naturally mismatched genes line up properly (don’t ask me;
I don’t understand it either). At minimum, ten classes of antibiotics (sulfonamides, penicillin, ampicillin, etc.) have become less effective over the last 50 years.

Little Bitty Foes and Friends
Originally a disease found in hoofed mammals (cattle, sheep, etc.) as far back as 1500 B.C., anthrax is our latest bacterial target. Antibiotics are (don’t take my word for it; ask a physician) more useful as a treatment/preventative for people who have been exposed to the bacterium rather than a catch-all preventative; they are not vaccines.

So the thousands of people who are now popping Cipro-like one-a-day vitamins may only be fueling general antibiotic resistance (not to mention risking side effects). This isn’t some half-baked, new age granola-munchin’ wacko theory; it’s the concern of medical professionals nationwide.

I personally don’t much believe in the safety of western drugs, but when people who create and prescribe them daily urge caution and restraint, it’s best to listen.

Splice and Slice
As pesticides are used in most every farm, garden, yard, lawn and landscape in the nation, serious consequences may (and in cases already have) develop(ed). Instead of, for example, gene-splicing natural Bt (one of the organic production farmer’s best tools) into everyday crops that mainly results in lowering its overall effectiveness, let’s use this valuable bacillus when necessary.

Likewise, instead of dispensing antibiotics like Pez candy or promoting stupid consumer goods like antibacterial pre-moistened picnic towelettes, save antibacterial agents for serious use or places that really need it like hospitals (and they really do. As a consequence of herding lots of ill people in one place and slicing them open, hospitals have an extremely high population of micro-critters).

Like I say, I generally don’t believe in western medicine, but if I bust my femur or something, I’m sure not gonna go get rolfed or get a colonic. I’ll let western medicine do what it does best: emergency and trauma. Likewise, if I end up with anthrax