From Fluctuations and Disorder to Scaling and Control: The Emergence of Resistance in Microbial Communities

Abstract

Antibiotics are a cornerstone of modern medicine, and antibiotic resistance is a growing threat to public health. The evolution of resistance is a multiscale process shaped by many of the same phenomena that have fascinated condensed matter physicists for decades: fluctuations, disorder, scaling, and the emergence of structure from local heterogeneous interactions. In this review, we offer a brief introduction to antibiotic resistance through the lens of these shared cross-disciplinary themes. We highlight conceptual connections shared across disciplines and aim to inspire continued investigation of this complex and important biomedical problem.