On 29/05/2011 23:07, David Paste wrote:

Well, that's slightly different - the extremophiles tend to live in
environments which are hostile to most known life, but I would doubt
that there are any bugs capable of breeding through cell lysis! Could
be wrong though, and if I am, it'll be brilliantly interesting to read
up about them.

Well, I'm censored large number years out of date but...

I guess the effect of this stuff is to punch holes in the cell
membranes. Enough holes, no cell. So if there's enough to punch a few
holes, but not actually kill it, and there's some variation in the
ability of the bugs to fix the holes, why would you not have selection
for something able to survive in a weak concentration? And then they
can gradually work their way up the drain to the source of the poison
where the concentrations are higher and nothing else can survive.

After all that's the way antibiotic resistance has been bred.

Andy