Antibiotic resistant 'superbug' genes found in the High Arctic

Antibiotic resistance in bacteria is spreading rapidly worldwide and has even been called a global threat to humans as serious as climate change. Excessive and imprudent use of antibiotics is usually blamed, but the rate and extent of the spread can’t be explained by overuse alone.
Antibiotic resistance has now been found in remote parts of the world where humans and antibiotics are scarce or absent. Recently we published a study in Environment International that reported antibiotic resistant genes in Svalbard in the High Arctic.
Antibiotic resistance itself is natural, but continued human exposure to antibiotics has selected for progressively stronger bacteria. These bacteria often acquire antibiotic resistance genes that allow them to make powerful defence proteins. As more antibiotics are used new forms of resistance evolve, including multiple drug resistance in pathogens, creating a health crisis.

Sampling locations for soil bacteria in Svalbard, Norway. David Graham, Author provided

For our research, we extracted bacterial DNA from 40 soil cores at eight locations along Kongsfjorden on the west coast of Spitsbergen on the Arctic Ocean, 300km from the North Pole. This...