The evolution of bacteria resistant to a new antibiotic is not
merely a threat, but an inevitability. In this ongoing battle,
our only option is to find ways to slow the evolution of
resistant strains and encourage the evolution of susceptible
strains. And that's where Carl's research comes into the
picture. His goal is to understand the process through which
antibiotic resistant infections evolve and spread in hospitals
so that we can better manage them. Recently, Carl and his
colleagues became interested in a strategy being considered for
use in hospitals called cycling. The idea is simple: doctors in
a hospital would cycle through antibiotics, prescribing a
particular antibiotic for period of time and then switching to a
new one. Researchers and clinicians thought that cycling would
reduce levels of antibiotic resistance because the bacteria
would not have time to evolve to keep up with the changing drugs
just as a resistant strain for Drug #1 evolves and spreads,
along comes Drug #2, and strains resistant