Skip to main content.
Bard
  • Bard
  • Academics sub-menuAcademics

    A place to think.

    Discover Bard
    • Academics
      • Programs and Divisions
      • Structure of the Curriculum
      • Courses
      • Requirements
      • Academic Calendar
      • Faculty
      • Libraries
      • College Catalogue
      • Bard Abroad
      • Dual-Degree Programs
      • Other Study Opportunities
      • Graduate Programs
      • Early Colleges
  • Admission sub-menuAdmission

    Do you love to learn?

    Discover Bard


    Apply Now
    • Discover Bard
      • Our Students
      • Our Alumni/ae
      • Campus Tours
      • Bard on the Road
      • Bridge Program
      • Video Gallery
    • Applying
      • First Year
      • Transfer Students
      • Early College Transfers
      • International Students
      • DACA and Undocumented
      • Bard Conservatory
      • Accepted Students
      • Enroll Now!
      • New Students
      • Prospective Families
      • Familias
      • Financial Aid
      • Tuition and Payment
      • Contact Us
      • Our Staff
      • Graduate Admission
      • Early College Admission
  • Campus Life sub-menuCampus Life
    Bard Campus Life

    Make a home in Annandale.

    • Living on Campus
      • Housing + Dining
      • Campus Resources
      • Get Involved on Campus
      • Visiting + Transportation
      • Athletics + Recreation
      • New Students
  • Civic Engagement sub-menuCivic Engagement

    Take action.
    Make an impact.

    Get Involved
    • Bard CCE
      • The Center for Civic Engagement (CCE) at Bard College embodies the fundamental belief that education and civil society are inextricably linked.


  • Newsroom sub-menuNews + Events
    Fisher Center
    • News + Events
      • Newsroom
      • Events Calendar
      • Video Gallery
      • Press Releases
      • Office of Communications
    • Special Events
      • Commencement + Reunion Weekend
      • Family + Alumni/ae Weekend
      • Fisher Center
      • Bard SummerScape
      • Bard Athletics
  • About Bard sub-menuAbout Bard

    A private college for the public good.

    Support Bard
    • About Bard College
      • Mission Statement
      • Bard History
      • Love of Learning
      • Our Students
      • Employment
      • Visiting Bard
      • Bard Abroad
      • The Bard Network
      • Montgomery Place Campus
      • Campus Tours
      • Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion
      • Sustainability
      • Title IX
      • HEOA Disclosures
      • Safety and Security
      • Inside Bard
      • Alumni/ae Network
      • Family Network
      • Support Bard
  • Search

Bard News

Back to All News

Newsroom Menu
  • Newsroom
  • Events Calendar
  • News and Notes
  • Press Releases
  • Video Gallery
  • Special Programs sub-menuSpecial Programs
    • Commencement + Reunion Weekend
    • Family + Alumni/ae Weekend
    • Fisher Center
    • Bard SummerScape
    • Bard Athletics
  • Office of Communications

Antibiotic Pollution and Resistance Have Created a Public Health Crisis Requiring Large-Scale Policy Changes, Says Study Coauthored by Bard Professor Gabriel Perron

Assistant Professor of Biology Gabriel Perron
The ability to fight bacterial infections with antibiotics has been a longstanding cornerstone of modern medicine, but widespread overuse and misuse of antibiotics has led to unintended consequences. A new paper in the journal Microorganisms coauthored by Bard College Assistant Professor of Biology Gabriel Perron argues that large-scale antibiotic pollution and the resulting antibiotic resistance are major public health problems that require significantly more research—that goes beyond data gathering to more interpretive studies that consider the overall impact of antibiotic pollution on humans and on the environment, in addition to its contribution to antibiotic resistance—as well as more coordinated large-scale policy interventions.

“Today, the evolution of microbial pathogens able to resist antibiotics treatments is seen as one of the most pressing public health crises,” writes Perron and coauthors Susanne A. Kraemer and Arthi Ramachandran, both of the biology department, Concordia University, Montreal, QC. “The sheer magnitude of the antibiotic pollution and resistance crisis, with the estimated deaths due to antibiotic resistance being 700,000 per year globally makes managing its social and economic fallout a global problem.”

In their review, “Antibiotic Pollution in the Environment: From Microbial Ecology to Public Policy,” Perron, Kraemer, and Ramachandran explore the spread of antibiotic resistance from hotspots of resistance evolution to the environment; outline the effects of antibiotic pollution (independent of resistance evolution) on natural microbial populations, as well as invertebrates and vertebrates; and review international polices aimed at mitigating the effects of antibiotics pollution. The authors write that, while the environmental component of this issue (e.g., environmental reservoirs of resistance genes and the likelihood of horizontal transfer of ARGs between pathogenic and non-pathogenic bacteria) has received an increased research interest in recent years, many dimensions of environmental antibiotic pollution and resistance are still unknown and require further research.

“Current research of environmental dimensions of antibiotic resistance often tallies up resistance genes found within an environment but gives little indication of the associated risks of transmission, and thus the potential impact on human health,” they write, stressing that antibiotic pollution also has the potential to affect human and ecosystem health directly. “On one hand, the effects of antibiotic pollution are expected to be especially disruptive in aquatic environments, where they can inhibit ecosystem functions and impact on organisms that are exposed throughout their life cycle. On the other hand, the presence of antibiotics in the environment and in animals could also impact on human health. While the effect of such exposure is unknown in humans, epidemiological surveys suggest that long-term exposure to antibiotics may lead to chronic conditions including obesity, diabetes, and asthma. For these reasons, it is imperative to consider the overall impact of antibiotic pollution on humans and on the environment, in addition to its contribution to antibiotic resistance.”

Perron and his coauthors contend that moving from data gathering to more interpretative studies will aid in developing more efficient policies. “Current policy schemes are focused on surveillance, but the scope of the crisis must eventually lead to forward-thinking policies,” they write, stressing that understanding antibiotic pollution and antibiotic resistance as a ‘One Health Approach’ (linking human, animal, and environment health domains) may aid in creating more societal engagement and ultimately more efficient policies. “Such policies need to evaluate direct risks of transmission posed by certain contaminated environments while at the same taking into account the complex patterns of inter-environmental transmissions that may exist. As antibiotic resistance and pollution is a global problem and especially rampant in the developing world, international cooperation, data-sharing and globally consistent policies are needed.”

Gabriel Perron, assistant professor of biology at Bard College and faculty member of the Bard Center for the Study of Land, Air, and Water, is an evolutionary biologist who studies the emergence of medically important traits in a broad range of microorganisms. His research uses a combination of real-time evolution experiments, genomic and metagenomic approaches, and field studies to understand how bacteria evolve antimicrobial resistance. Using different microbial systems, including bacteria such as Salmonella, Perron’s work seeks to understand the impact of human activity on the presence of antibiotic-resistant bacteria in natural environments and its possible impact on public health issues. More recently, Perron has been also studying the impact of human activity on microbial communities found in Polar Regions.

To read the full paper, click here. For more information on the Bard Center for the Study of Land, Air, and Water, please visit landairwater.bard.edu.
 
Read More

Post Date: 08-06-2019
Bard College
Campus Road, PO Box 5000
Annandale-on-Hudson, New York 12504-5000
Phone: 800-BARDCOL
Admission Phone: 845-758-7472
Admission E-mail: admission@bard.edu
©2019 Bard College
Follow Us on Twitter
Like us on Facebook
Follow Us on Instagram
You Tube
Information For:
Prospective Students
Current Employees
Alumni/ae 
Families
Quick Links
Employment
Travel to Bard
Site Search
Support Bard