Food Supply and Drug Resistance

Researchers at Colorado State University are investigating the topic of antibiotic resistance by tracking the genetic footprints of drug-resistant bacteria. They want to determine where infectious organisms originate and how they move through the food system and environment to people. Here's Dr. Paul Morley, a CSU veterinarian and infectious-disease expert. "The challenge that we are trying to address is the need for increased food production over the next 35 to 50 years. The worlds population is going to increase from 7,000,000 to 9 or 10 billion between now and 2050. The estimates are that we will have to double our food production. Doubling of food production will not be equally distributed across the whole world. Some of the places that will experience the largest increases in population are not the areas where the food will need to be produced. North America and South America are good examples of areas where we are going to have to look at doubling food production. Well, that is going to require further intensification of agriculture, use of even more modern production practices. In the intensification of agriculture, we have to be concerned about the impact on microbial ecology that might affect ecosystem health and it might affect animal health and human health. Our vision is that this will allow us to conduct research about modern agricultural practices that allow us to have ecosystem health and a safe, secure food supply for people.