University researchers claim discovery of antibiotic resistance genes in bacteria

A joint discovery by the Chalmers University of Technology and the University of Gothenburg, Sweden recently found elusive drug resistance genes in bacteria.

Bacteria have been evolving in recent years, mutating to meet our own efforts against them. Even otherwise harmless bacteria can pass these traits onto more violent, disease-causing strains, making for deadly cocktails.

Publishing their findings in the scientific journal Microbiome, university researchers noted that their discovery of 76 types of these genes was made through searching large volumes of bacterial DNA. Researchers used computational methods to pattern hunt through DNA, then running gene tests in the lab to confirm.

“Our study shows that there are lots of unknown resistance genes,” Erik Kristiansson, professor in biostatistics at Chalmers University of Technology and the study’s principal investigator, said. “Knowledge about these genes makes it possible to more effectively find and hopefully tackle new forms of multi-resistant bacteria.”

Several of the genes discovered allow bacteria to degrade even carbapenems–the most powerful class of antibiotics used to treat multi-resistant bacteria. From here, the next step forward for such research groups is to find genes that offer resistance to other types of antibiotics.