To study the evolutionary process of gaining antibiotic resistance, researchers exposed bacterial populations to a daily dose of antibiotics in controlled laboratory conditions. They then tracked the process using a theoretical model and computer simulations. The researchers published their findings in Science.
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They found that high doses of antibiotics led bacteria to develop the dormancy mechanism. Once they developed the mechanism, also called “tolerance,” they quickly acquired “mutations to resistance,” when they came out of the dormancy period.
Thus, tolerance may be a key aspect of bacteria evolving resistance when exposed to antibiotics cyclically, in high concentrations.
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