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Ban Hand Sanitizer?
By: Kekolu DeRamos
Problem
Based on your understanding of evolutionary theory, should
hand sanitizers be banned from public use?
How to Fix Problem
We don’t have to ban the use of hand snitizer just yet.
If we did need to though, I could send a letter to the Hawaiʻi State
Department of Health stating why we should ban the use of hand
sanitizer in public. But also what we could do so that we could
eventually bring the hand sanitizer back because it is a very useful
thing to have, especially when you are in a rush.
What is Evolution
Evolution is the process of genetic change of a population
over time. This could mean any population: plants, animals,
humans, bacteria, etc.
5 mechanisms of evolution: Migration, Genetic Drift,
Mutation, Artificial Selection, and Natural Selection.
Why we shouldn’t have to ban
hand sanitizer?
Right now, as stated in this article called Hand Sanitizer &
Antibiotic Resistance, bacteria is changing to reduce its
susceptibility to the alcohol in the hand sanitizer. Alcohol is 6085% of hand sanitizer and by itslef deactivates bacteria and viruses.
But as the bacteria dies some still survive and the ones that survive
create more bacteria that is not susceptible to the alcohol. This is
called Natural Selection. But there is still the antibiotic that comes
into hand. So as the hand sanitizer’s alcohol component is
becoming not so useful, the antibiotic still is handy. So we don’t
have to ban it from the public, not until the bacteria is not
susceptible to the antibiotic as well as the alcohol, then we need to
worry. Then we need to ban it and get new antibiotic or alcohol
that the bacteria isn’t immune to.
Why Evolution plays a role?
Over time and as we apply hand sanitizer to get rid of the bacteria
on our hands, the bacteria is constantly trying to become nonsusceptible to this. Over time the genetic change of bacteria has
caused it to slowly be immune to hand sanitizer. This is basically
the definition of evolution. The process of genetic change of a
population over time, in this case bacteria being the population. In
order for this to happen, one of the five mechanisms plays a role in
order for the bacteria to become immune. As hand sanitizer is
applied it kills the bacteria that do not have the traits to survive, and
the ones that do live on. As those immune bacteria cells live on
they begin to reproduce more bacteria that is non-susceptible to the
hand sanitizer, this is called survival of the fittest, or natural
selection.
If We did Ban Hand Sanitizer
We shouldn’t have to ban hand sanitizer for a while because
the bacteria are just becoming non-susceptible to the alcohol
in hand sanitizer, now they have to do the same with the
antibiotics, which should take a while. But when it does
finally happen we need to stop putting hand sanitizer out for
the public until we fix the problem. The way we can do this is
to find new alcohol or antibiotics that the bacteria is not
susceptible to, and to get help we can send a letter to the
HSDH (Hawai’i State Department of Health) asking them to
get scientists to find these things out so that we can put hand
sanitizer back into the public.
Letter to the HSDH
Dear Hawai’i State Department of Health,
This letter that I am writing concerns the future health of Hawai’i. In my
current biology class we were given the question “Based on your
understanding of evolutionary theory, should hand sanitizers be banned
from public use?” After further research that I did I have discovered that
banning hand sanitizer may be highly necessary for the health of Hawai’i.
Through this research I found that the bacteria that we are trying to kill
with the hand sanitizer are evolving with an evolutionary mechanism
called natural selection. A theory that Charles Darwin came up with
saying that traits that promote survivorship and biological fitness will be
the ones to survive. You see this is happening within the bacteria and the
ones that don’t die from the hand sanitizer are reproducing and soon
enough the hand sanitizer we are using will not kill the bacteria on our
hands making us more at risk to becoming infected or undergoing
infections. These infections could include very dangerous and deadly
infections ass well. So we are asking that you push for scientists to
research new antibiotics within the hand sanitizer or new alcohol so that
they might kill the bacteria that was resistant to the previous alcohol and
antibiotics. Dear HSDH, I really hope that you will take this matter into
consideration.
Kekolu DeRamos