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I situate my research at the crossroads of history, philosophy, sociology and anthropology of science. In the past, I have focused on epigenetics, environmental research, empirical bioethics and environmental justice, within and outside the academia, as you can read here, or here. Now I am focusing on antibiotic resistance, and I use it as a lens to interpret the contradictions of the last century derived by industrial production, environmental degradation and biomedical cultures.

What interests me is the (at that time) new epistemic discourse that since the Forties has been produced to explain morphological changes of organisms produce when they experience new environmental conditions or perturbations. Through an important experiment at the base of the so-called concept of genetic assimilation, Conrad H. Waddington showed that a thermic shock can produce changes in wings’ veins of fruit flies, changes that can eventually be inherited across generations, without the environmental trigger that caused them.

This focus on production and (genetic) storage of biological differences elicited by the environment is nowadays coupled with the knowledge produced through microbiome research that explains the phenotypic patterns that recur across generations.

In a thought-provoking twist, with microbiome research, the focus shifts from production and inheritance of biological differences to production and inheritance of biological similarities. Microbiome research shows that some phenotypic patterns are allowed by ecological communities of microorganisms composing all animals. Bacteria allow the development and functioning of our bodies within an epistemic framework that is now key to understand biology. The network of vessels composing mammals’ stomach is formed through cellular differentiation and expression of genes coordinated by bacteria. The same is true for our immune system that is coordinated by gut bacteria. Food, which is an important aspect of our lives also impacts on this microecology and mediates between our biological functions and functioning of means of production whose parts dedicated to food production have immense importance for our biology and our internal and external ecologies. Antibiotic resistance is one of the crossroads where culture, biology, history and the Anthropocene meet. Indeed, Antibiotic resistance shows that means of production of our societies have an even more widespread, deep and allegedly unexpected impact on the biology of animals and plants. The microorganism can indeed adapt to resist the selective toxicity of antibiotics. Moreover, bacteria can transfer their genetic code horizontally, by touch, so that we can acquire antibiotic resistance by eating food that functions as a vector, by hosting lice on our heads and many other contacts. Bacteria that are resistant to antibiotics that have been used as growth factors in animal husbandry and to prevent diseases in livestock and aquaculture, spread in natural ecosystems and can be found in wild species. Rivers and estuarine waters are places hosting antibiotic resistance.

Searching on PubMed (the search engine for biomedical literature) titles of articles containing the terms ‘antimicrobial’ and ‘Louisiana’ I retrieved just one twelve-years-old article. No results with terms such as 'Mississippi' or 'New Orleans'. The authors collected and analysed Oysters from both waters of Louisiana Gulf and in restaurants and food retailers in Baton Rouge. In most of the samples gathered, scientists recognised the presence of bacteria (Vibrio parahaemolyticus and Vibrio vulnificus) resistant to specific antimicrobials. Food production is indeed the first factor in terms of the quantity of antibiotics used. This use and related antibiotic resistance impact all the living beings present in a specific area, and can easily travel around the globe through many channels. As Littman & Viens have highlighted, a sustainable future is a future without antibiotics as “there may be no truly sustainable way of using antibiotics in the long-run, as microorganisms have shown to be almost infinitely adaptable since the first introduction of antibiotics” (Littman & Viens 2015). But in the meanwhile, we need to use them and antibiotic resistance is a phenomenon that can be better studied through environmental research, by analysing wild species and emissions nearby livestock, for instance.

The study that I retrieved focuses on Oysters. But what about antibiotic resistance conveyed through food that is consumed by the most?

What about exposures of communities that are living in highly polluted areas?

And what is the additive value on antibiotic resistance for individuals who experience the presence of industrial pollutants and that live in areas where cancer epidemics are registered?

In this respect, there is a strategy to cope with the issue of antibiotic resistance promoted by the Center for Disease Control and Prevention. The document doesn’t mention any action to monitor and regulate the production and usage of antibiotics in livestock. Nevertheless, the CDC wants to scrutinise, through genome sequencing, “Listeria, Salmonella, Campylobacter, and E. coli and uploads sequence data into PulseNet for nationwide monitoring of outbreaks and trends.” Moreover, the document reports that “In Fiscal Year 2019, Louisiana will begin simultaneously monitoring these isolates for resistance genes. When outbreaks are detected, local CDC-supported epidemiologists investigate the cases to stop spread.”

The questions that I would like to ask (to local ppl, activists, researchers, practitioners..) are:

What could be the epidemiologic characteristics (socioeconomic status, gender, residence..) of the populations more vulnerable to antibiotic resistance?

What is the additive role of antibiotic resistance for people living in highly polluted areas?

What is the impact of antibiotic resistance for people and patients living in areas where cancer incidence is high?

And on the long run I am interested in imagining possible strategies to not only living with the problem but also to tackle the problem itself, which means to develop strategies to answer the questions:

Why antibiotic resistance, which is known since a century, it’s a problem on the rise?

What is the role and interest of capitalism, in terms of profit-making of corporations, knowledge production and environmental degradation, in not being able to resolve antibiotic resistance?

What can be strategies of local communities to tackle the problem and to promote environmental justice in terms of alliances with ecologists, doctors, epidemiologists and other activists?

There are lots of programs currently to improve low income childrens quality of life and assist them on changing their socioeconomic status:

CCAP (Child Care Assistance Program) - Assistance for low income families working full time, in school or training full-time, or a combination equaling to full-time. Eligibility is based on income, family size, and work/school hours. 

CCVC (Child Care Voucher Centers) - Assistance for low income families that live in a selected CCVC county with a designated CCVC program. Rutgers Southern Regional CCR&R currently services Atlantic, Cumberland, and Gloucester counties with CCVC funding. The child care must be an approved CCVC center. Eligibility is based on income, family size, and work/school hours.

Kinship - Assistance for relatives caring for their relatives' children. Eligibility is based on income, family size, and work/school hours. 

CPS (Child Protection Services) - Assistance for families referred to our agency through the Department of Children Protection and Permanency (DCP&P). Eligibility is determined through DCP&P who will forward our office your information if child care is needed. 

PACC (Post Adoption Child Care) - Assistance for families who have recently adopted a child. Eligibility is based on  work hours with approval and referral from Department of Children Protection and Permanency (DCP&P).

PTCC (Post Transitional Child Care) - Assistance for low income families who are ending their second year of Transitional Child care benefits through the County Board of Social Services. Eligibility is based on income, family size, and work hours. Please contact us if you are interested in this program.

DOE/WRAP (Department of Education and Wrap Around Care) - Assistance for families who reside in an Abbott school district and whose child is 3 or 4 years old. Eligibility is based on income, family size, work/school hours, age of child needing assistance, and residency. Please contact us if you are interested in this program.

The poor monority children are more with exporation dates. Neighborhoods with highly concentrated poverty have higher crime rates, higher rates of chronic illness. This extremely troubling because theses children are not riskes at birth. This extremely troubling when these children are already brought into the world with a birth defect rate higher than the national average  in almost all catagories

The common nessesaties that arent given to children in the essex county ultimately handicap the community around them. All the issues directly influence the parents, and the state; because with all of these issues are things the government has a level of control over. By not trying to findd solutions so child poverty the state continues to have to fun child care, enrichment programs that are costly which we current cant afford. The quality of these programs slowly does down until they become another vulnerability themselves

Vulnerability the quality or state of being exposed to the possibility of being attacked or harmed, either physically or emotionally. When dealing with the children living in poverty in essex county this is assess by whay disadvantages they are automatically supjected to by living in the area with their current socioeconomic status

Resilience the capacity to recover quickly from difficulties; toughness. This is a reveiw of what resources they hold and how they are currently dealing with the issues that they are facing

A sacrifice zone or sacrifice area (often termed a national sacrifice zone or national sacrifice area) is a geographic area that has been permanently impaired by environmental damage or economic disinvestment. These zones are most commonly found in low-income and minority communities. Children that grow up near these areas are more likely to have asthma and other lung issuesd

Full annotation

Annotate ONE of the readings assigned for the week. The reading you choose must have an asterisk next to it in the syllabus (hint: the longer readings will almost always have an asterisk). Annotations should be at least 200 words, excluding the quotes and citations. Please use the following format: