Carlsbad, NM –Pioneering work being carried out in Lechuguilla Cave in Carlsbad Caverns National Park by Gerry Wright, Ph.D., McMaster University, Ontario and Hazel Barton, Ph.D., University of Akron, Ohio, is changing the understanding of how antibiotic resistance may have originated. One of the results of this work is a scientific paper, released today, “A Diverse Intrinsic Antibiotic Resitome from a Cave Bacterium.”http://www.nature.com/articles/ncomms13803
Lechuguilla Cave is one of the longest caves in the world and deepest in the United States. Due to the fragile and highly technical nature of the cave, it has been closed to all except a few scientific researchers and cave experts since its original discovery in 1986. This restricted access makes it an ideal environment to study how microbes have evolved without the influence of humans. This study highlights the importance of caves in the Park and how protection of these irreplaceable resources has proved to be immensely valuable to the researchers studying these environments.
Wright and Barton worked together in 2012 to examine microorganisms that had been isolated in the cave for over four million years. They found that these microorganisms were resistant to virtually every antibiotic used to treat disease. Their research suggests that antibiotic resistance has existed naturally for millions of years.
Research in Lechuguilla Cave gives scientists time to develop new drugs to combat resistance, potentially decades before it becomes a problem.
Carlsbad Cavern’s National Park’s visitor center winter hours are 8 a.m.to 5 p.m. For more information about park regulations, visitation or park tours, call 575-785-2232 or visit www.nps.gov/cave.