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When we use antibiotics, insecticides, herbicides, and any other “insecticides”, we do it in our homes, hospitals, backyards, farmland, and even in some cases, in the forest. And the effect is always predictable.
Recently, Michael Baym of Harvard University and his colleagues built a giant petri dish, or “giant culture plate,” divided into a series of columns. Then, Baym added agar, which is not only the food of microorganisms, but also the habitat of microorganisms. The outer column on each side of the giant culture plate contains agar, nothing more. Moving inward, higher concentrations of antibiotics are added to each subsequent column. Baym then releases bacteria on both ends of the large plate to test whether they will develop resistance to antibiotics.
These bacteria do not have genes that confer antibiotic resistance. They entered the giant plate unarmed like sheep. If agar is the pasture of these bacterial “sheep”, then antibiotics are wolves. This experiment mimics the way we use antibiotics to control disease-causing bacteria in the body. It mimics the way we use herbicides to control weeds on the lawn. It mimics every way we try to prevent nature from flowing into our lives every time.
The law of natural selection predicts that as long as genetic variation occurs through mutation, bacteria should eventually be able to evolve resistance to antibiotics. But this may take years or more. It may take a long time for the bacteria to run out of food before they can evolve the ability to spread into the column with antibiotics, which is filled with wolves.
It didn’t take a few years. It took 10 or 12 days.
Bem repeated this experiment time and time again. It’s the same every time. The bacteria fill the first column, then slow down briefly, and then many lineages evolve resistance to the next highest concentration of antibiotics. This situation continued until some lineages evolved resistance to the highest concentrations of antibiotics and poured into the last column, like water on a dam.
Seeing the acceleration, Baym’s experiment is terrible. It is also very beautiful. The frightening thing is that, relative to our strength, bacteria change from defenseless to impenetrable speed. Given the understanding of the law of natural selection, its beauty lies in the predictability of experimental results. This predictability allows two things: it lets us know when resistance may develop, whether in bacteria, bed bugs, or some other biota; it also allows us to manage the river of life, thereby reducing resistance Possibility of evolution. Understanding the laws of natural selection is the key to human health and well-being, and frankly, it is also the key to the survival of our species.
There are other biological laws of nature with similar consequences. The Species Area Act specifies how many species live on a particular island or habitat as a function of its size. This law allows us to predict when and where species will become extinct, and when and where they will re-evolve. The law of corridors determines which species will move in the future with climate change, and how they will move. The law of escape describes the way species thrive when escaping from pests and parasites. Escape explains some of the success of humans relative to other species, and how we can achieve such extraordinary abundance relative to other species. When the possibility of our escape (protection from pests, parasites, etc.) is getting smaller and smaller, the law stipulates some of the challenges we will face in the next few years. The law of niche prescribes where species, including humans, can live, and where we may be able to successfully live with climate change in the future.
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