<p class="title">Superbug genes that were first detected in New Delhi over ten years ago have now spread to the Arctic -- one of the last 'pristine' places on the Earth, scientists say.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Antibiotic-Resistant Genes (ARGs) provide multidrug resistance (MDR) in microorganisms. An example is NDM-1, which is a protein that can confer resistance in a range of bacteria.</p>.<p class="bodytext">NDM-1 was first identified in New Delhi and coded by the resistant gene blaNDM-1. Strains that carry blaNDM-1 were first found in clinical settings in 2008, but by 2010 blaNDM-1 was found in surface waters in Delhi.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Since then, the resistant gene has been found in over 100 countries, including new variants.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Analysing the extracted DNA from forty soil cores at eight locations along the Kongsfjorden region of Svalbard, a total of 131 ARGs were detected, according to the study published in the journal Environmental International.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Carried in the gut of animals and people, blaNDM-1 and other medically-important ARGs were found in Arctic soils that were likely spread in the faecal matter of birds, other wildlife and human visitors to the area.</p>.<p class="bodytext">"Polar regions are among the last presumed pristine ecosystems on Earth, providing a platform for characterising pre-antibiotic era background resistance against which we could understand rates of progression of AR 'pollution'," said David Graham, a professor at Newcastle University in the UK.</p>.<p class="bodytext">"Encroachment into areas like the Arctic reinforces how rapid and far-reaching the spread of antibiotic resistance has become, confirming solutions to AR must be viewed in global rather than just local terms," Graham said.</p>.<p class="bodytext">There are currently few antibiotics to combat bacteria that are resistant to Carbapenems -- still a last-resort antibiotic class -- and worldwide spread of blaNDM-1 and related ARGs is a concern.</p>.<p class="bodytext">"What humans have done through excess use of antibiotics on global scales is accelerate the rate of evolution, creating a new world of resistant strains that never existed before," said Graham.</p>.<p class="bodytext">"A gene that confers MDR in tuberculosis was found in all cores, whereas blaNDM-1 was detected in more than 60 per cent of the soil cores in the study," he said.</p>
<p class="title">Superbug genes that were first detected in New Delhi over ten years ago have now spread to the Arctic -- one of the last 'pristine' places on the Earth, scientists say.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Antibiotic-Resistant Genes (ARGs) provide multidrug resistance (MDR) in microorganisms. An example is NDM-1, which is a protein that can confer resistance in a range of bacteria.</p>.<p class="bodytext">NDM-1 was first identified in New Delhi and coded by the resistant gene blaNDM-1. Strains that carry blaNDM-1 were first found in clinical settings in 2008, but by 2010 blaNDM-1 was found in surface waters in Delhi.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Since then, the resistant gene has been found in over 100 countries, including new variants.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Analysing the extracted DNA from forty soil cores at eight locations along the Kongsfjorden region of Svalbard, a total of 131 ARGs were detected, according to the study published in the journal Environmental International.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Carried in the gut of animals and people, blaNDM-1 and other medically-important ARGs were found in Arctic soils that were likely spread in the faecal matter of birds, other wildlife and human visitors to the area.</p>.<p class="bodytext">"Polar regions are among the last presumed pristine ecosystems on Earth, providing a platform for characterising pre-antibiotic era background resistance against which we could understand rates of progression of AR 'pollution'," said David Graham, a professor at Newcastle University in the UK.</p>.<p class="bodytext">"Encroachment into areas like the Arctic reinforces how rapid and far-reaching the spread of antibiotic resistance has become, confirming solutions to AR must be viewed in global rather than just local terms," Graham said.</p>.<p class="bodytext">There are currently few antibiotics to combat bacteria that are resistant to Carbapenems -- still a last-resort antibiotic class -- and worldwide spread of blaNDM-1 and related ARGs is a concern.</p>.<p class="bodytext">"What humans have done through excess use of antibiotics on global scales is accelerate the rate of evolution, creating a new world of resistant strains that never existed before," said Graham.</p>.<p class="bodytext">"A gene that confers MDR in tuberculosis was found in all cores, whereas blaNDM-1 was detected in more than 60 per cent of the soil cores in the study," he said.</p>