Antibiotic Resistance Transfer in the Mammalian Intestinal Tract: Implications for Human Health, Food Safety and Biotechnology

This book is about the gene transfer between bacteria in the mammalian intestine. Bacterial gene transfer is not only an exciting area of basic research, but also has important implications for human health, food safety and release of genetically engineered microbes. This book surveys what is known about mechanisms of gene exchange, describes the conditions and types of bacteria found in various parts of the intestinal tract and assesses the likelihood of gene transfer in this context. It also discusses the practical impact of gene transfer and provides a critical assessment of human practices that may encourage gene transfer, such as feeding antibiotics to livestock animals, selling antibiotics over the counter, and using antibiotic resistance genes to construct bacteria intended for release into the environment.