Antibiotics And Antibiotic Resistance

Modern-day advances have allowed scientists to develop methods to control pathogens. The more common methods include the use of antiseptics, antibiotics, and vaccines. By definition, antiseptics are chemicals used to kill pathogens. A few widespread antiseptics include soap, vinegar, and rubbing alcohol. Antiseptics are primarily used for the external destruction of pathogens, while antibiotics and vaccines target internal pathogens. Nevertheless, there are and can be difficulties concerning the use of antibiotics. “As antibiotic use has become more common, antibiotic-resistant bacteria have evolved.” This resistance due to evolution is called antibiotic resistance. It results in the antibiotics having no effect whatsoever on the bacteria, rendering the antibiotics useless. When antibiotic resistance occurs, scientists must resume their search to create a new medicine to can kill the mutant bacteria.

Antibiotics either stop the bacterial cell from reproducing or kill the cell. They can disrupt the bacteria by deterring

When non-resistant bacteria are exposed to an antibiotic, most of them die. But due to the increase of mutations some of the bacteria are becoming resistance to the antibiotic. The bacteria are all subject to natural selection. Natural selection is as simple as saying that the bacteria that have not developed a mutation or resistance that helps them to survive die. The ones that do, survive and pass on the mutation to the next generation. This means that we are constantly having to adapt our antibiotics because so much of the mutation is getting passed along. The flu vaccination is a good example of how mutations are carried over and how the vaccine had to be changed every year to fight the ever changing virus. Some strains

Antibiotic resistance evolves in bacteria. Charles Darwin created the theory of evolution which focused on natural selection being the key factor of how things change. Natural selection is when organisms that are better suited to the environment are able to reproduce successfully. Evolution is descent with modification. Bacteria can become resistant to antibiotics by a mutation. The bacteria that did not die from the antibiotic inherited the gene from an ancestor that made it resistant. Since the other bacteria is dying faster than the resistant bacteria, the resistant bacteria are able to multiply

What are the real reasons behind the problem of bacterial resistance to antibiotics? There is not really any clear-cut answer to this question but there are some known factors that do contribute to the problem. Some of these include the overuse of antibiotics in livestock, international travel that can spread resistant bacteria, and the biggest single factor across the globe appears to be the very problem of misuse that Fleming warned of in 1945. Over prescription unnecessarily is still quite common today, and this is a primary contributor to the generation of bacterial resistance (Stivers, 2007).

The misuse and overdose of the antibiotics increase the resistance problem. It can cause these bacteria to

When antibiotic is used most of the bacteria die but a few bacteria with antibiotic resistance gene survive and reproduce and pass this advantage to their offsprings. This selective pressure exists naturally, however antibiotic misuse can be accused for fastening the spread of the antibiotic resistance gene [Refer to figure 2] (Learn Genetics 2015). Consequently, inappropriate antibiotic intake will lead to a greater chance of superbugs being developed. Antibiotic resistance can be defined as a new ability which a bacterium has developed to stay unattached in the presence of an antibiotic that was previously effective to destroy the bacterium (ABC science 2015). Four key mechanisms that has been identified for bacterial antibiotic resistance can be listed as: producing enzymes that inhibit the functionality of the drug, reducing the effectiveness of the drug by producing targets against which the antibiotic, reducing the permeability of the drug into the bacterium and active export of antibiotics using various pumps (Pogson 2012). All these mechanisms can be developed by any of the bacteria when the corresponding mutated gene of antibacterial resistance is received. The genes code for specific proteins, and variation in the gene leads to alteration of the shape of proteins. This leads to changing the functionality

Widespread use of antibiotics has been very controversial in the media as well in the general population. Due to these controversies, it is very misunderstood to how antibiotics work leading to many patients in the hospital setting wanting to take them when it is not necessary or refusing to take when it is necessary for their survival. Some of this controversy is due to antibiotic resistance, which has spread an alarming rate in the 21st century (Walsh, 2000). Antibiotic resistance is the result of very strong bacteria or microbes that are resistant to the antibiotic prescribed and those microbes accumulate overtime by their survival, reproduction and transfer, leading to increased levels of antibiotic resistance.

Antibiotic resistance happens when bacteria come into contact with an antibiotic over and over again.

The overconsumption of antibiotics is a big contribution to drug resistance and is why users should know what happens with the repeated use of these drugs. Even though some bacterial mutation occurs naturally, human use of antibacterial is the cause of higher-levels of resistance (Alliance for the Prudent Use of Antibiotics 2014). Bacteria mutate either by genetic mutation or by receiving the defensive agent. During an infection bacteria multiply naturally within the body and when exposed to antibiotics, bacteria have an opportunity to adapt to the drug (Alliance for the Prudent Use of Antibiotics 2014). During this period of

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), describes antibiotic resistance is the ability of bacteria or other microbes to resist the effects of antibiotic treatment. () So instead of being destroyed by the medications, the bacteria survives and continues to reproduce, resultant in new communicable diseases that even more difficult to treat.

As mentioned above, bacteria can build resistance in those ways by changing their genetics a small amount. When they make more vitamins than necessary, it changes the genetics of the bacteria. Also, when they only allow molecules in a certain way, it is also changing their cell wall and genetics. When they let the antibiotic build up and then remove it altogether it is changing the genetics as well. They change their genetics and still carry out their functions in different ways.

This then means that the illness can spread, because the antibiotic has not succeeded in curing it. The way that bacteria form this type of resistance can be explained through natural selection. To start with, there are variations in the bacteria in the way that some are able to resist the antibiotic and some are not. When the bacteria come into contact with an antibiotic, those that are resistant will survive, while the rest will die. These selected bacteria then pass on the characteristics that allow them to resist the antibiotic. This means that over time, the antibiotic will become ineffective against a larger percentage of the bacteria. A new resistant strain of the bacteria has been formed that can survive even when treated with antibiotics, therefore enabling it to be passed to other people. The main cause of this is the overuse or misuse of antibiotics, which allows the bacteria more of a chance to develop a resistance. Some bacteria such as those found in the digestive tract, are naturally resistant to types of antibiotics. Illnesses that have previously been easy to cure with antibiotics are now harder to treat due to antibiotic

Like any other organism, bacterium are subject to evolutionary pressure. Antibiotic resistance in bacteria is rarely the result of a single mutation leading to full resistance, but rather the result of a series of mutations that incrementally increased antibiotic resistance. For example, in the case of fluoroquinolone resistance, resistance started with a mutation in the efflux pump, granting Streptococcus pneumoniae the ability to survive certain treatment regimens (13). This became an issue when people started to misuse their antibiotics. In this particular example, because patients did not follow their prescription regimens, they only killed the bacteria not resistant to fluoroquinolone. This selective pressure drove bacteria to further develop fluoroquinolone resistance, meaning that the initial infection remained untreated, and would now require a

Antibiotics was developed to combat bacteria by zero in on the bacteria’s structure. As time goes by bacteria can defeat antibiotics in their natural selection. Natural selection plays an important role in the progression of antibiotic resistance. Most of the bacteria dies when it is exposed to antibiotics they are sensitive to. Therefore, it creates more space and availability of nutrients for the surviving antibiotic-resistant bacteria. Subsequently,