Reconciling Pasteur and Darwin to control infectious diseases

PLoS Biol. 2018 Jan 18;16(1):e2003815. doi: 10.1371/journal.pbio.2003815. eCollection 2018 Jan.

Abstract

The continual emergence of new pathogens and the increased spread of antibiotic resistance in bacterial populations remind us that microbes are living entities that evolve at rates that impact public health interventions. Following the historical thread of the works of Pasteur and Darwin shows how reconciling clinical microbiology, ecology, and evolution can be instrumental to understanding pathology, developing new therapies, and prolonging the efficiency of existing ones.

Publication types

  • Editorial
  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Anti-Bacterial Agents
  • Biological Evolution
  • Communicable Diseases / genetics*
  • Drug Resistance, Microbial / genetics*
  • Humans
  • Selection, Genetic / genetics*
  • Virulence / genetics

Substances

  • Anti-Bacterial Agents

Grants and funding

Fonds de recherche du Québec Société et Culture http://www.frqsc.gouv.qc.ca/le-frqsc. The funder had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript. European Research Council https://erc.europa.eu/ (grant number 648963). The funder had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.