The College of Science at the University of Basrah organized a seminar entitled Co-selection of antibiotic and heavy metal resistance of bacteria in urin by the graduate student Huda Waleed Qasim The study aims This study aims to study the heavy metal co-resistance with antibiotics amongst bacteria isolates from urine samples and included The study involved Environmental pollution with heavy metals (such as zinc and cadmium) promotes the survival of resistant bacteria and their ability to spread antibiotic resistance genes. This exacerbates the problem of antimicrobial resistance, especially in environments like urine, due to the shared resistance between antibiotics and heavy metals in bacteria. This dangerous phenomenon occurs when bacteria develop resistance to both simultaneously through similar genetic mechanisms, often linked to genes found on mobile elements (plasmids) that transfer between bacteria, leading to the spread of antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs) and worsening the overall problem of antimicrobial resistance (AMR), particularly in polluted environments. This phenomenon makes bacterial infections harder to treat and reduces the effectiveness of antibiotics.
