Dear Saroj,

There are obvious similarities between bacteria resistance to antibiotics and the mechanisms of Darwinian evolution : mutations, selection, survival of the fittest, etc… But considering antibiotic resistance as a « proof of Evolution » would be a rather dubious generalization.

Resistance of bacteria to antibiotics develops in much shorter time and results from artificially created challenges (not really natural selection) as already mentioned in a post above.

As you probably know, this resistance to antibiotics results from the mechanism of jumps of transposons (here in bacteria), as discovered by Barbara McClintock (Nobel laureate in Physiology or Medicine in 1983) :

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barbara_McClintock

See the Wikipedia article on « Transposable element » :

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Transposable_element

Here is an extract of this article (in “Examples”) :

“Transposons in bacteria usually carry an additional gene for functions other than transposition, often for antibiotic resistance. In bacteria, transposons can jump from chromosomal DNA to plasmid DNA and back, allowing for the transfer and permanent addition of genes such as those encoding antibiotic resistance (multiantibiotic resistant bacterial strains can be generated in this way)…. “

Antibiotic resistance is first of all a proof of the efficiency of the mechanism of jumps of transposons from chromosomal DA to plasmid DNA (and back) in bacteria.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barbara_McClintock

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Transposable_element

The development of generations of antibiotic-resistant microbes and their distribution in microbial populations throughout the biosphere are the results of many years of unremitting selection pressure from human applications of antibiotics, via underuse, overuse, and misuse. This is not a natural process, but a man-made situation superimposed on nature; there is perhaps no better example of the Darwinian notions of selection and survival.

Dear Saroj,

There are obvious similarities between bacteria resistance to antibiotics and the mechanisms of Darwinian evolution : mutations, selection, survival of the fittest, etc… But considering antibiotic resistance as a « proof of Evolution » would be a rather dubious generalization.

Resistance of bacteria to antibiotics develops in much shorter time and results from artificially created challenges (not really natural selection) as already mentioned in a post above.

As you probably know, this resistance to antibiotics results from the mechanism of jumps of transposons (here in bacteria), as discovered by Barbara McClintock (Nobel laureate in Physiology or Medicine in 1983) :

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barbara_McClintock

See the Wikipedia article on « Transposable element » :

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Transposable_element

Here is an extract of this article (in “Examples”) :

“Transposons in bacteria usually carry an additional gene for functions other than transposition, often for antibiotic resistance. In bacteria, transposons can jump from chromosomal DNA to plasmid DNA and back, allowing for the transfer and permanent addition of genes such as those encoding antibiotic resistance (multiantibiotic resistant bacterial strains can be generated in this way)…. “

Antibiotic resistance is first of all a proof of the efficiency of the mechanism of jumps of transposons from chromosomal DA to plasmid DNA (and back) in bacteria.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barbara_McClintock

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Transposable_element

Is Antibiotic Resistance Proof of Evolution? Yes!  Bacteria, a life-form, seeks to survive and to thrive in its environment (human hosts,  animal hosts, etc.)  They react and adapt  to their environment.  Like microbes, bacteria  can be beneficial  as well as destructive to their hosts.  They are interdependent , they evolve like their human or animal hosts at the cellular level.

https://www.boundless.com/microbiology/textbooks/boundless-microbiology-textbook/introduction-to-microbiology-1/microbes-and-the-world-19/microbes-and-the-origin-of-life-on-earth-209-7327/

Yes, bacteria resistance to antibiotics is a proof of adaptation. After a number of mutations, there is by chance an acquired genetic resistance in one or other bacterium. The relevant genes then quickly disseminate to the whole population in a few generations thanks to the mechanism of transposons jumping from chromosomes to plasmids and vice versa.

There are other similar cases. See e.g. the case of Japanese samurai crabs. For reasons of superstition or respect, Japanese fishermen did not wish to kill crabs with a samurai-like face on their backshell, so they threw them back into the sea. This was the chance of the crabs which survived. « Those crabs with the most pronounced human features in any one generation contributed a disproportionate share of offspring to the next generation. Later generations therefore had a head start over earlier ones, and the resemblance gradually increased. » (Richard Dawkins, Climbing Mount Improbable, Penguin books, 1997, 2006). At the end all the crabs had the needed genes for getting the samurai-like face on the back. Good proof of adaptation. Se the two first images in following link :  

http://www.thenatureanimals.com/2011/04/10-incredibly-bizarre-animals-with.html

Evolution from fish to human or from dinosaur to bird is a more complex story.

http://www.thenatureanimals.com/2011/04/10-incredibly-bizarre-animals-with.html