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Antibiotics in Swine Feed Encourage Microorganism Gene Exchange http://apocadocs.com/s.pl?1322575556
A study to be published in the online journal mBioŽ on Nov. 29 shows that adding antibiotics to swine feed causes microorganisms in the guts of these animals to start sharing genes that could spread antibiotic resistance.
Livestock farms use antibiotic drugs regularly, and not just for curing sick animals. Antimicrobial drugs are used as feed additives to boost animal growth, a profitable but controversial practice that is now banned in the European Union and under scrutiny here in the United States. Using antibiotics in animal feed saves farms money, but opponents argue the practice encourages antimicrobial resistance among bacteria that could well be consumed by humans....
Prophages underwent a significant increase in induction when exposed to antibiotics, indicating that medicating the animals led to increased movement of prophage genes among gut bacteria.
"Induction of the prophages is showing us that antibiotics are stimulating gene transfer," says Allen. "This is significant because phages have previously been shown to carry bacterial fitness genes such as antibiotic resistance genes."
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[Read more stories about:
antibiotic resistance, corporate farming, short-term thinking]
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'Doc Jim says:
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I don't think we want to be turning amateur phages into prophages, do we?
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