Meat industries can reduce antibiotic resistance by limiting the use of these antibiotics in their meat sources. After studies showed the degree of inappropriate use of antibiotics in chicken production, many officials worldwide declared its contribution to the rise of bacteria that have grown resistant to antibiotics (Singh, 2014, para. 1; Bunge, 2015, para. 4). The issue concerning the overuse of antibiotics is not just a national level concern but also a worldwide concern. In India, The Indian Medical Association (IMA) played a role in this matter as well. The IMA’s demand for an instant ban on antibiotics for “use as growth promoters and for prevention purpose in the poultry industry” emphasizes the problematic effect of these antibiotics (Singh, 2014, para. 1). This subject has been of crucial concern in the United States as well. Many poultry companies across the U.S. have declared plans over the years for the reduction or elimination of the use of antibiotics in their chicken supplies. Foster Farms is an example of one these companies. Foster Farms has taken action as a result of “growing pressure from consumer groups and public-health officials” (Bunge, 2015, para. 4). With companies, such as Foster Farms, unveiling plans for the reduction of antibiotics and associations, such as IMA, advocating concern for the overuse of these substances, …show more content…
It is, in fact, a situation that requires many bright minds to come together to create a solution. Solutions have been thought of from a wide range of people, including college students to governments as a whole. An MIT graduate student, Timothy Lu, has constructed a method to beat microbial resistance. The student retooled an old infection fighter to “work with standard drugs that are losing their effectiveness against potentially fatal diseases” (Cooney, 2008, para. 2). Lu’s version of the drug can penetrate through the bacteria’s natural biofilm layer. The biofilm layer has a natural ability to eradicate antibiotics and is one of the causes for bacteria to be able to resist antibiotics. This version of the drug also weakens the bacteria’s defense system by obstructing genes in the bacteria from pumping antibiotics out of the cell. This enables antibiotics to freely pass into the bacterial cell and kill the bacteria as it is originally supposed to do (Cooney, 2008, para.