Superbugs have learned to defend against antibiotics with microplastics

Microplastics has a large surface area and superbugs can attach to it. They form sticky biofilms on the surface, which are protective and allow sharing genes and impart drug resistance.

In New Jersey, scientists collected samples from three treatment plants and added polystyrene and polyethylene to some of them, and added sand to others for control. In the course of the study, it turned out that 8 types of bacteria cling to microplastics. 3 days after the study, 3 specific genes (sul1, sul2, intl1), imparting resistance to antibacterial drugs, were in 30 times their volume in microplastics compared to those in sand. When the additional antibiotics were added, the number of these genes was increased by 4.5 times. In the course of previous study, it turned out that biofilms help microplastics to be more easily absorbed by biological tissues.

Source: NEW ATLAS