Bears studied for antibiotic resistance

[The Straight Story]

Bears studied for antibiotic resistance

TROMSO, Norway, Jan. 13 (UPI) -- A study of polar bear droppings suggests antibiotic-resistant genes seen in other animals may be the result of human influence, scientists in Norway said.

Researchers from the University of Tromso examined droppings from five Arctic polar bears and rectal swabs taken from another five Arctic polar bears between 2004 and 2006.

The polar bears showed little sign of antibiotic-resistant bacteria seen in the feces of animals living near humans, university researcher Trine Glad wrote in the journal BMC Microbiology.

"The Barents Sea population of polar bears is located in an area that is sparsely populated by humans," Glad said. "This enables us to study an ecosystem with little human impact and should allow us to determine whether these genes are naturally occurring or are caused by exposure to human antibiotics."


http://www.upi.com/Science_News/2010/01/13/Bears-studied-for-antibiotic-resistance/UPI-66321263427200/

Sometimes we don't see the negative affects of some things for years later - meds, vaccines, agent orange, etc...they all seem ok at the time and we swear they are safe for you and laugh at people who might be a bit gun shy from history.

[RevCheesehead]

1. Somewhere, there are a few polar bears...

who are telling their friends about alien abductions and anal probings, and being laughed at by the other bears.

[HeresyLives]

3. I was just thinking what a helluva job that was,

when I got to your remark.

Coffee...everywhere.

Many thanks for the laugh. I needed that today! :hi:

[bemildred]

2. You can't have antibiotic resistance without lots of antibiotics in your environment, eh?

Resistance comes from exposure?