This 2006 colorized scanning electron micrograph image made available by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention shows the O157:H7 strain of the E. coli bacteria. U.S.health officials on May 26, 2016 reported the first case in the country of a patient with E. coli bacteria carrying the mcr-1 gene, an infection resistant to all known antibiotics. © AP
TOKYO -- Antimicrobial resistance, or AMR, is drawing attention around the world as antibiotic development has all but disappeared in the fight against drug-resistant bacteria and other microorganisms.
The matter is gaining some urgency. When the leaders of seven major industrialized nations in May met in Japan's Ise-Shima, Mie Prefecture, they issued a declaration that mentions the need for more AMR studies. More than a month earlier, Japan's government adopted a plan to reduce the use of antibiotics by 30%.
There's a war going on, man versus microorganisms. So far, the pathogens have won every battle.
Nearly a century ago, Scottish biologist Alexander Fleming discovered penicillin, the first antibiotic to become available to humans. It was available during World War II and saved a large number of soldiers who would have otherwise died from infected wounds.
But eventually, penicillin would lose its effectiveness as bacteria gained resistance to the miracle drug.
Methicillin, an antibiotic against staphylococcus aureus, which causes food poisoning, skin and other infections, went on sale in 1962 in the U.S. Two years later, methicillin-resistant staphylococcus aureus, or MRSA, appeared.
The humans would counterattack in 1972 by unleashing Vancomycin, effective in fighting MRSA. In 1996, bacteria appeared that resisted the antibiotic.
The superbug
The war is one of survival. As humans used to come up with stronger antibiotics, the bacteria world would evolve to adapt to the new enemy.
Microorganisms split by copying their genes. Errors occur in the copying process once every 100 million splits, resulting in a mutated gene. Depending on the mutation, microbes resistant to antibiotics are accidentally born, according to experts.