Is Antibiotic Resistance Evolution?

Genesis 1:31

“And God saw every thing that he had made, and, behold, it was very good. And the evening and the morning were the sixth day.”

A friend of mine went into the hospital recently for a fairly serious but routine operation on his heart. He has now recovered well, but his recovery was severely hindered by the fact that he got an infection with the bacteria MRSA. This is a very difficult bacterium with which to deal because it has become resistant to most forms of antibiotic. Evolutionists point to this development of antibiotic resistance in organisms like MRSA as an example of modern-day, observable evolution. In popular conversation, bacteria with antibiotic resistance are known as superbugs. So have superbugs really evolved antibiotic resistance?

The answer to the question depends on your definition of evolution. Biological evolution requires a mutation producing new genetic information rather than simply selecting from what is already present.

Many bacteria have little pumps which enable external materials to be taken into the organism. These pumps will also sweep antibiotics in which destroy the bacteria. But MRSA has developed a mutation which renders these pumps ineffective. Materials are not swept in, so the antibiotics do not affect it. But this is a defective mutation. It also inhibits the bacterium’s ability to compete with other bacteria. They cause problems in hospitals precisely because antibiotics have killed off all the bacteria which do not have the mutation. Therefore, the bacteria remaining in hospitals are defective mutants. This is not, therefore, an example of evolution. Darwinian evolution is supposed to provide an uphill path for better organisms. Antibiotic resistance is the exact opposite of that.    Author: Paul F. Taylor

 Prayer: Your word, Lord, always speaks the truth, and we can be sure that all our scientific observations, correctly interpreted, are entirely consistent with the biblical account. Amen.

Ref: Wieland, C., Superbugs not super after all, Creation 20(1):10–13—December 1997. Image: MRSA under a scanning electron microscope, Public Domain.