Document Type

Article

Keywords

adaptation, antibiotic resistance, ecology, epidemiology, experimental evolution, genomics, HIV, malaria, population genetics

Abstract

Although microbes have been evolving resistance to antimicrobials for millennia, the spread of resistance in pathogen populations calls for the development of new drugs and treatment strategies. We propose that successful, long-term resistance management requires a better understanding of how resistance evolves in the first place. This is an opportunity for evolutionary biologists to engage in public health, a collaboration that has substantial precedent. Resistance evolution has been an important tool for developing and testing evolutionary theory, especially theory related to the genetic basis of new traits and constraints on adaptation. The present era is no exception. The articles in this issue highlight the breadth of current research on resistance evolution and also its challenges. In this introduction, we review the conceptual advances that have been achieved from studying resistance evolution and describe a path forward.

Publication Date

March 2015

Publication Title

Evolutionary Applications

Volume

8

Issue

3

First Page

211

Last Page

222

DOI

10.1111/eva.12254

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