Remember how, as a kid, you were always so willing to share your newly acquired ice cream with others? Just because you were such a giving child? (Or, more likely, your parents forced you to). That’s the fascinating thing about organisms- why do we share? Perhaps it’s because we’re all stewards of the golden rule. But it seems that the more science looks into it, the more we discover that all organisms – even microbes- are extremely cooperative. Charitable, even.
Antibiotic resistance in hospitals (and elsewhere!) is now a widespread epidemic. For decades, scientists have been trying to figure out how microbes become resistant to antibiotics so quickly.
We have always assumed that most of the cells that survive an antibiotic attack are resistant. However, new research has shown that in many bacterial populations, a few cells are highly resistant to antibiotics but most have a minimal tolerance to the drugs. So how are these weaker cells able to withstand high doses of antibiotics?
Turns out, those cells with high drug resistance are also extremely charitable… always willing to share their ice cream. They produce massive amounts of helper proteins that protect weaker cells in the population. These helper proteins act like steroids, beefing up the weaker cells to help them survive attacks from the drugs we are pumping into our systems.
This strategy also offers another advantage- when the antibiotic goes away, most of the population is already prepared to carry on without the heavy burden of still being antibiotic resistant, which can be a huge cost for organisms.
But why is this strategy advantageous for the charitable cell? Why is helping others such a good strategy?
Lee et al. 2010. Nature.
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