Radio-Mimetic Chemicals

For mankind as a whole, a possession infinitely more valuable than individual life is our genetic heritage, our link with past and future. Shaped through long aeons of evolution, oru genes not only make us what we are, but hold in their minute beings the future – be it one of promise or threat. Yet generic deterioration through man-made agents is the menace of our time, ‘the last and greatest danger to our civilization.’ Again, the parallel between chemicals and radiation is exact and...

 Antibiotics Evolve Bacteria in the Gut

New antibiotics have been coming out at frequent intervals since then, and bacteria have evolved resistance to just about every one of them. Nowadays, the most ominous example is MRSA (methycillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus), which has succeeded in making many hospitals positively dangerous places to visit. Another menace is ' C. diff.' ( Clostridium difficile). Here again, we have natural selection favouring strains that are resistant to antibiotics; but the effect is overlain by anothe...