21
Apr
Glyphosate Weed Killer Tied to Widespread Bacterial and Multidrug Resistance, Elevating Silent Pandemic
(Beyond Pesticides, April 21, 2026) A very alarming link between agricultural glyphosate weed killer use and multidrug antibiotic resistance in nosocomial pathogens—those responsible for hospital-acquired infections—is revealed in a study by researchers from the University of Buenos Aires. Glyphosate is the most widely used pesticide in the world. Understanding the relationship between pesticide use, particularly glyphosate, and antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is of increasing urgency. Most soybeans grown around the world are genetically engineered to resist glyphosate in order for the crop to survive its heavy application to reduce weeds. Argentina is the third largest producer of soybeans after Brazil and the United States. In Argentina, estimated annual glyphosate use averaged about 36 tons between 2020 and 2023, according to the study authors. The authors emphasize that understanding the relationship between glyphosate and AMR is, like many others in the current agricultural system, a result of siloing—of assumptions and methods, not of crops. Clinical studies of AMR focus on studying specific pathogenic strains in laboratory cultures, while environmental studies use metagenomics—assessing all the microbial genes in an environment to determine which functions are available for microbes to use, without necessarily determining the presence of, or culturing, particular species. The authors advocate […]
