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Drug resistance doesn't always come from drugs

Influenza 'accidentally' hit on drug resistance through natural evolution.

Influenza resistance to a powerful group of antiviral drugs, the adamantane family, has worryingly jumped from 2% to 90% in recent years around the world. This dramatic shift was initially attributed to drug selection pressure: throwing adamantane drugs at viruses should select for influenza strains that evade those drugs. But a new study hints that this isn't the cause of the increased resistance; instead it seems viruses developed the resistance on their own accord.

Read the story here.

Posted by Nicola Jones on June 18, 2007 05:25 PM |

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Comments

The argument for how this single mutation spreads around the globe is not convincing at best. I'm wondering what the proponents of Rupert Sheldrake's morphic resonance hypothesis would say to this... It seems the best argument in their favour yet.

Posted by: Michael | June 21, 2007 03:57 PM

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