News tagged with drug resistance

Related topics: antibiotics , cancer cells , breast cancer , hiv , malaria



Drug resistance

Drug resistance is the reduction in effectiveness of a drug in curing a disease or improving a patient's symptoms. When the drug is not intended to kill or inhibit a pathogen, then the term is equivalent to dosage failure or drug tolerance. More commonly, the term is used in the context of diseases caused by pathogens.

Pathogens are said to be drug-resistant when drugs meant to neutralize them have reduced effect. When an organism is resistant to more than one drug, it is said to be multidrug resistant.

Drug resistance is an example of evolution in microorganisms. Individuals that are not susceptible to the drug effects are capable of surviving drug treatment, and therefore have greater fitness than susceptible individuals. By the process of natural selection, drug resistant traits are selected for in subsequent offspring, resulting in a population that is drug resistant.

This text uses material from Wikipedia and is available under the GNU Free Documentation License.


Glaxo, US partnering to develop new antibiotics

GlaxoSmithKline PLC says it's starting an unusual collaboration with the U.S. government to develop several antibiotics for both bioterrorism threats and bacterial infections resistant to current medicines.

Medications created May 22, 2013 | popularity not rated yet | comments 0

Researchers describe how breast cancer cells acquire drug resistance

A seven-year quest to understand how breast cancer cells resist treatment with the targeted therapy lapatinib has revealed a previously unknown molecular network that regulates cell death. The discovery provides new avenues ...

Cancer created May 07, 2013 | popularity 5 / 5 (4) | comments 0 | with audio podcast

Genome sequencing provides unprecedented insight into causes of pneumococcal disease

A new study led by researchers from Harvard School of Public Health (HSPH) and the Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute in the UK has, for the first time, used genome sequencing technology to track the changes in a bacterial population ...

Genetics created May 05, 2013 | popularity not rated yet | comments 1 | with audio podcast

Scientists develop simple blood test to track tumour evolution in cancer patients

By tracking changes in patients' blood, Cambridge scientists have created a new way of looking at how tumours evolve in real-time and develop drug resistance. The research was published in the print edition ...

Cancer created May 03, 2013 | popularity 5 / 5 (2) | comments 0 | with audio podcast

Gene clues point to Cambodia for resistant malaria

Gene analysis of malaria parasites has pinpointed western Cambodia as the hotspot of strains that are dangerously resistant to artesiminin, the frontline drug against the disease, scientists said on Sunday.

Genetics created Apr 28, 2013 | popularity 5 / 5 (1) | comments 0

Will green tea help you lose weight?

Evidence has shown that green tea extract may be an effective herbal remedy useful for weight control and helping to regulate glucose in type 2 diabetes. In order to ascertain whether green tea truly has this potential, Jae-Hyung ...

Overweight and Obesity created Apr 29, 2013 | popularity 5 / 5 (2) | comments 0

Computer program identifies rare mutations harbored within diverse populations of cancer cells and microorganisms

A tumor is not a uniform mass of identical cells. However, teasing apart genetic heterogeneity within a biopsied tumor can be difficult. Researchers often fail to tell the difference between a rare variant ...

Cancer created Apr 24, 2013 | popularity not rated yet | comments 0

Researchers make significant step forward in combating antibiotic resistance

The research led by Durham University, which involved colleagues at the University of Birmingham, is a significant development in combating antibiotic resistance; it will pave the way for the creation of the inhibitors to ...

Medical research created Apr 24, 2013 | popularity 5 / 5 (2) | comments 0

Nanomal smartphone-like malaria detection device to be field tested one year earlier than scheduled

A pioneering mobile device using cutting-edge nanotechnology to rapidly detect malaria infection and drug resistance will be ready for field testing this year, one year ahead of schedule.

Diseases, Conditions, Syndromes created Apr 26, 2013 | popularity not rated yet | comments 0