Tag: Radio

Over the last week, I have been featured in media in different ways, so here’s a quick summary.

I was asked to provide a comment on a recent paper on how microplastics affect antibiotic resistance development (1) for an article in Scientific American (2). I am not sure I had that much intelligent to say, other than to caution about jumping to conclusions, as we still know quite little about the risks associated with microplastics and AMR: “How much of a threat plastic-derived drug-resistant pathogens pose to humans is a question that remains to be fully understood” is one of my two quotes from the article.

I also was interviewed last week for Swedish Radio’s Vetenskapsradion (in Swedish) about another study showing that, e.g., ibuprofen could drive bacteria to higher mutation rates, indirectly triggering antibiotic resistance development (3). Such interaction effects have also been seen elsewhere (4), but the fact that they see this effect for such a commonly used drug as ibuprofen – one of our most standard painkillers – is a little bit concerning. Still I stress in the interview that we need to know much more about these interaction effects before jumping to clinical guidance.

Finally, the Foundation for Strategic Research has released the video they recorded about our research last fall. It is in Swedish, but with English subtitles, so this could be worth a watch!

References

1. Gross N, Muhvich J, Ching C, Gomez B, Horvath E,Nahum Y, Zaman MH: Effects of microplastic concentration, composition, and size on Escherichia coli biofilm-associated antimicrobial resistance. Appl Environ Microbiol, 91, e02282-24, (2025). https://doi.org/10.1128/aem.02282-24
2. Zaraska M: Microplastics Could Be Turning Bacteria into Drug-Resistant Superbugs. Scientific American, 2025-08-26. https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/microplastics-could-be-creating-dangerous-antibiotic-resistant-bacteria/
3. Chen H, Sapula SA, Turnidge J, et al.: The effect of commonly used non-antibiotic medications on antimicrobial resistance development in Escherichia coli. npj Antimicrob Resist 3, 73 (2025). https://doi.org/10.1038/s44259-025-00144-w
4. Maier L, Pruteanu M, Kuhn M, et al.: Extensive impact of non-antibiotic drugs on human gut bacteria. Nature 555, 623–628 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1038/nature25979

The paper we published in August on travelers carrying resistance genes with them in their gut microbiota has now been typeset and got proper volume and issue numbers assigned to it in Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy. Take a look at it, I personally think it’s quite good-looking.

Also, if you understand Swedish, here is an interview with me broadcasted on Swedish Radio last month about this study and the consequences of it.

The new citation for the paper is:

• Bengtsson-Palme J, Angelin M, Huss M, Kjellqvist S, Kristiansson E, Palmgren H, Larsson DGJ, Johansson A: The human gut microbiome as a transporter of antibiotic resistance genes between continents. Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy, 59, 10, 6551-6560 (2015). doi: 10.1128/AAC.00933-15 [Paper link]

There have been quite a lot of buzz this week around the travel paper we published earlier this month. Twitter aside, the findings of the paper has also been covered by a range of news outlets, both in Sweden and internationally. Today, I was on Swedish radio talking resistance problems for about ten minutes (listen here; in Swedish). Here’s a few takes on the story I gathered around the web:

Science Daily
Business Standard
Z News
Englemed Health News
Läkemedelsvärlden (in Swedish)
Sveriges Radio (in Swedish)
Göteborgs-Posten (in Swedish)