The challenge of resistance in modern medicine spans from infectious diseases to cancers, with mutations often carrying fitness costs in the absence of treatment. Despite expectations of extinction through purifying selection, preexisting resistance persists, evident in drug-resistant malaria and targeted cancer therapies like non-small cell lung cancer and melanoma. Solutions to this paradox vary, from spatial rescue to mutation supply arguments.
A team of Case Western Reserve University researchers in physics, medicine and genetics recently penned an article on their work on this topic. Published in PRX Life, their research suggested frequency-dependent ecological interactions between ancestor and resistant mutant mitigate resistance costs, highlighting the role of such interactions in shaping resistance dynamics.
The research team included:
- Mike Hinczewski, associate professor of physics;
- Chris McFarland, assistant professor of genetics and genome sciences;
- Jacob Gardinier Scott, associate professor of molecular biology; and
- Jeff Maltas, postdoctoral fellow in genetics.