Antibiotic Resistance

Antibiotic Resistance

Antibiotic Resistance. I'm Greg Martin along with Lacy Gray with Colorado Ag Today.

Researchers at Colorado State University are investigating the weighty topic of antibiotic resistance – an issue with ramifications for global food safety and public health. Lacy Gray has more.

GRAY: By tracking the genetic footprints of drug-resistant bacteria, researchers hope to determine where infectious organisms originate and how they move through the food system and environment to people. The study is one of the largest of its kind and is enabled by recent advances in DNA sequencing technology. Dr. Paul Morley, a CSU veterinarian and infectious-disease expert

MORLEY: Despite decades of looking to try and understand how common agriculture practices, including the use of antimicrobial drugs might affect resistance, we don't believe we've achieved a satisfactory answer for ourselves or for the public.

Using DNA sequencing technology, they will trace genes that cause resistance in bacteria. This will allow them to determine sources and paths, including whether and how antimicrobial-resistant bugs move from livestock to humans.The project is expected to provide insights about the factious topic of antibiotic use in food animals, chiefly beef and dairy cattle, and the degree to which the longstanding agricultural practice contributes to development of "superbugs" that infect people whose illnesses are difficult and expensive to treat. Greg.

Thanks Lacy.

And that's Colorado Ag Today. I'm Greg Martin, thanks for listening on the Ag Information Network of the West.

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