Evolutionary Theory Of Antibiotic Resistance

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

So if a bacterium has a gene resistant to Penicillin dies and another bacterium picks up that gene, now the bacterium that is alive is resistant to Penicillin. This allows the bacteria that die to still have an influence in the colony. The second method is called transduction or the passing of virus. Since virus are just pieces of DNA or RNA they can latch onto genes from one bacterium and then transfer them to another bacterium thus giving more bacteria that gene that may be resistant to a specific antibiotic such as penicillin. The final method is called conjugation which allows bacteria to create a gene transferring connection with each other and when they break apart both bacteria can gain genes from each other allowing them to be resistant to possibly two antibiotics. Horizontal gene transfer is bacteria biggest weapon against everything we throw at them. So the question is can we evolve our own weapons, antibiotics, fast enough to counter these methods bacteria use to survive (Hobley,

In doing research for an example of natural selection, I came across antibiotic resistant bacteria. This has become one of the biggest threats to the healthcare community and Center for Disease Control. Through the use of antibiotics in treatments that are not necessarily bacterial infections, as well as the over use and misuse of antibiotics, bacteria have evolved in ways making the antibiotics used against them useless. If a bacteria manages to survive through a dose of an antibiotic, they are capable of mutating and can transfer their DNA to other bacteria. The new bacteria multiply quickly and spread to other parts of your body or outside of your body to a new host. Once the bacteria have mutated and its DNA has been transferred to

The video “Program Four: Creators of the Future” talks about microbes in general; especially how some of them are resistant to antibiotics in various circumstances. Microbes are all around the world, even inside us. Many microbes are beneficial to humans but some of them are not. They are mostly associated with illness and because of that, in 1928 Alexander Fleming invented penicillin, which is an antibiotic produced by mold. Penicillin was the first microbial product to kill human diseases. Some microbes are resistant to all antibiotics and cannot be treated. When penicillin functions correctly, it kills the bacteria by destroying their cell walls. Microbes reproduce by replicating themselves in two; when a mutation in the replication occurs, what happens is that the microbe with the mutation is going to be resistant to all antibiotics known for the moment. Nothing will stop microbes from mutating;

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

Evolution is change over time of an organism. The original bacteria changes to an antibiotic resistant bacteria over time. The process of the bacteria becoming resistant is also an example of natural selection. Natural selection is a process when an organism's traits are more likely to suit the environment, as the result, they produce more offsprings and survive longer than the ones without the traits(Life Science Textbook). In this case, the bacteria had already adapted their environment to become resistant to antibiotic. Many bacteria died because of the force of antibiotics. As mutation occurs, amounts of the bacteria started to adapt to the antibiotic. In another way of saying, the bacteria have adapted to the environment of antibiotics which reflects on the process of evolution. Additionally, when there is more antibiotic resistant to bacteria, they start to reproduce more. To the point and the peak of reproducing more antibiotic resistant bacteria, the one without antibiotic resistant will be overtaken from the who have antibiotic resistant ability. Natural selection and evolution in bacteria had caused bacteria to be antibiotic resistant. Natural selection favors organisms, but in an another way, it also brings the bad out of

Bactericidal antibiotics kill bacteria by interfering with the cell wall or organelle formation. (News Medical, 2004) Bacteriostatic antibiotics interfere with the cell’s metabolic processes, such as DNA replication and protein synthesis. (News Medical, 2004) Both actions inhibit the cells vital processes, causing cell death. (Crierie & Grieg, 2010) However, superbugs, such as strains of Staphylococcus aureus, and Mycobacterium tuberculosis are deadly as they are very difficult to treat due to their resistance to multiple antibiotics. (NPS MedicineWise, 2012) Previously, Staphylococcus aureus was treated with benzyl penicillin. Currently, however, the bacteria cannot be controlled through this method, as they have developed resistance, which occurs because bacteria have the ability to mutate. After antibiotic contact, bacteria can alter their DNA in a way that enables them to resist the antibiotics. Bacteria are prokaryotic organisms and produce asexually by binary fission, thus their offspring have no genetic diversity. The only source of genetic variation in bacteria is through mutation. (Crierie & Grieg, 2010) Mutation refers to changes in gene sequences, resulting in variation in subsequent generations. This process occurs in every millionth to ten-millionth cell. (Alliance for the Prudent Use of Antibiotics, 2014) Certain types of mutations cause different types of resistance. They may enable

I certainly remember sitting in high school biology class and reaching the point in the year when microbial and bacterial genetics and replication is covered. That topic was always capped with the unfortunate fact that a unnerving amount of diseases, whether they be bacterial, fungal, parasitic, and on the rare occasion, viral, are becoming resistant to the commonplace pharmaceuticals used to remedy them. Disease such as tuberculosis, MRSA, gonorrhea, and CDIFF, that have proven to be fatal, have a new trick up their molecular sleeve to further bring harm to patients everywhere. They have grown resistant to their typical medicines – usually antibiotics – making the disease harder to get treat, get rid of, and prevent from spreading.

Bacteria that develop resistance to antibiotics are mutations that have evolved through the adaptation of their environment (Bethel). Scientific research has shown that the with evolution of bacteria that infectious diseases, such as tuberculosis, are re-emerging (Hassan). The bacteria Mycobacterium tuberculosis did not evolve alone because we have evolved ourselves. Scientists and many humans, after the discovery of penicillin in 1928 by Alexander Fleming, thought that the era of infectious diseases was over, but that era lasted only about 50 years.

Antibiotic resistance has evolved as a result of the interactions between bacteria and antibiotic after an antibiotic exposure. Bacterial species are capable of adapting to new antibiotic as simply as they adapt to new environments due to their amazing genomic plasticity. This in turn results antibiotic resistance to be very dynamic and unpredictable. “Every year, almost 100,000 Americans die from antibiotic-resistant infections acquired from hospitals, largely because of the reduced effectiveness of existing drugs, due to the development and propagation of drug resistance

The idea that our evolution is being effected by our continued consumption of antibiotics hasn 't been around for very long, but then again antibiotics and vaccines have only been around for about 200 years. Even though this may effect the possible validity of the idea the possible

Take for example MRSA (Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus), a S. aureus strain that was discovered in 1961 to be resistant to the antibiotic methicillin. Webmd indicates that MRSA has now grown its resistance from methicillin to “amoxicillin, penicillin, oxacillin and many other common antibiotics” (MRSA). This increase in resistance of a methicillin-resistant strain of S. aureus can be attributed to the increasing use and overuse of antibiotics, not only in the doctor’s office but also in agriculture. MRSA is only one of many antibiotic resistant strains of bacteria. New resistant strains are evolving rapidly. According to Dr. Ed Warren, “there are high levels of antibiotic resistance in bacteria causing common infections (e.g. urinary tract infections, pneumonia, bloodstream infections) in all regions of the world” (21).

The research presented in “Adaptive protein evolution grants organismal fitness by improving catalysis and flexibility” provides an integrated example of how understanding concepts of evolution is essential in all areas of science. This paper combines biochemical and evolutionary studies to investigate protein evolution and antibiotic resistance. Evolutionary concepts incorporated in this biochemical study include, but are not limited to: microevolution, adaption, selection, mutation, epistasis, fitness, phenotypic plasticity, trade-offs, etc. The two major evolutionary themes, mechanisms of evolution and adaption, are integral parts of the research conducted in this study and must be understood to fully appreciate the importance of this paper.

Less than 50 years after penicillin was discovered, strains of bacteria were discovered to be resistant to antibiotics (Haddox, 2013). Over the years scientists have changed the structure of the antibiotics to avoid this resistance, every time the bacteria adapts to overcome the changes. Bacteria divides as fast as 20 minutes and have many different ways to adapt (Haddox, 2013). Bacteria pass their drug resistance between strains and species, causing antibiotics to be less effective to all bacteria (Haddox, 2013).