Biology

For the first time, researchers have analyzed the impact of antibiotic use on the rise of treatment-resistant bacteria over the last 20 years in the UK and Norway. They show that while the increase in drug use has amplified the spread of superbugs, it is not the only driver.

Researchers from the Wellcome Sanger Institute, the University of Oslo, the University of Cambridge, and collaborators conducted a high-resolution genetic comparison of bacteria. They compared over 700 new blood samples with nearly 5,000 previously sequenced bacterial samples to answer questions about what factors influence the spread of antibiotic-resistant Escherichia coli (E. coli).

The study, published in The Lancet Microbe, shows that greater antibiotic use does drive an increase in treatment-resistant bacteria in some instances. However, researchers have confirmed that this varies depending on the type of broad-spectrum antibiotic used. They also found that the success of antibiotic-resistance genes depends on the genetic makeup of the bacteria carrying them.

To Hendry, the paradox of stasis was never a paradox at all. The issue, he said, was that biologists assumed that long-term stasis was the result of short-term stability. Throw out that assumption, and the paradox disappears. “The paradox is illusory,” he said. “Evolutionary biologists like to come up with things and call them paradoxes.”

A new study has found that evolution is not as unpredictable as previously thought, which could allow scientists to explore which genes could be useful to tackle real-world issues such as antibiotic resistance, disease, and climate change.

The study, which is published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS), challenges the long-standing belief about the unpredictability of evolution and has found that the evolutionary trajectory of a genome may be influenced by its evolutionary history, rather than determined by numerous factors and historical accidents.

The dark depths of southwestern China’s cave systems are patrolled by pale spiders smaller than a Tic Tac. Like many other cave creatures, these arachnids sport noticeably undeveloped eyes. Some lack eyes altogether.

But new research shows that these cave spiders don’t turn a blind eye to light. In a study published on Wednesday in Science Advances, researchers found that even cave-dwelling spiders that lack eyes entirely can still sense light. This vestigial “vision” may help the spiders, which thrive in damp conditions, steer clear of bright cave openings that lack moisture.

A study appearing in Nature Communications based on field and greenhouse experiments at the University of Kansas shows how a boost in agricultural yield comes from planting diverse crops rather than just one plant species: Soil pathogens harmful to plants have a harder time thriving.