The Evolution of Antibiotic Resistant Bacteria Essay

The appearance and spreading of antibiotic-resistant pathogens have given rise to many studies involving the genetic

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

Another way that bacteria can be invaded by antibiotics and resist it is the following: they let the antibiotic in and then remove it. They simply let the antibiotic in through the cell and they have parts of the bacteria that will remove the antibiotic from the cell before it can do any harm. They can also build resistance another way. Some antibiotics work by harming one or more necessary parts of the cell so it cannot function any more. For example, if an antibiotic invades the bacterial cell and destroys the way the cell can reproduce, it would eventually die off. Unfortunately, bacteria have found a way to resist this, and still function without the part of the cell. The way that they normally preform this has been destroyed, but some bacteria find new ways to still carry out this function using a different method. Sometimes when bacteria want to build resistance they will do it in advance. For example they will over prepare and make more vitamins than necessary before they come in contact with the antibiotic. When the antibiotic kills some of them off, there are too many vitamins in the cell that they just cannot all be

As previously discussed, antibiotics often work by targeting critical functions of the bacterial cell. This means that antibiotics have specific targets, which is a boon because it means non-microbial life will not be affected by the antibiotics. However, because of this specificity, bacteria can develop ways of protecting themselves from antibiotics, leading to the rise of antibiotic resistance

Antibiotic resistance is and continues to be a global public health issue1.One of the main concerns stems from the ability for bacteria to obtain antibiotic resistance very easily as a result of chromosomal changes, or through plasmids and transposons which generate an exchange of genetic material2. Resistance can also result from single or multiple mutations1,3. To combat this rising force, scientists must research and analyse the many possibilities of mutations in a variety of genes and proteins in specific bacteria and ways to combat them.

Antibiotics target specific structure or process of the cell. Such as, inhibition of cell wall synthesis, Inhibition of protein synthesis, Injury to plasma membrane, & Inhibition of nucleic acid synthesis. These drugs include, such as B lactam drugs that are bactericidal & kill bacteria by interfering with the synthesis of the cell wall, Polymyxin B drugs that injures the plasma membrane allowing the cell to burst. Tetracycline & Chloramphenicol that are bacteriostatic drugs, and inhibits protein synthesis. Fluoroquinolones & Rifamycin that are bactericidal drugs & interfere with the synthesis of nucleic acid. The pathogens can develop resistance against these drugs that are used to treat them. Resistance to antibiotics can be acquired by mutation

Antibiotics have always been considered a prodigious innovation. Antibiotics being introduced have established resistance in individuals, animals, and all living organisms. Antibiotics were first discovered in 1932 by Alexandar Fleming, who presented the work that led to production of penicillin. His determination has made an impact to antibiotic medications that are used to destroy bacteria. The use of antibiotics resulted with successful treatments by saving lives. However, some bacteria have now been resistant to antibiotics. The resistant bacteria are not killed nor controlled by antibiotics, they can continue to live and increase. (Cowen 2002). Watsmen described an “antibiotic as a complex compound that has been produced by a microbe that kills or stops the growth of another microbe.”

When a person takes an antibiotic incorrectly, it kills those that don’t have a mutation and also can kill the good bacteria that your body needs for daily activity such as digesting food. Once all the good and bad bacteria are dead, those that are left with the genetic mutation start to reproduce rapidly and eventually take over leaving you with a mass amount of bacteria that are resistant to whatever it is that normally kills them and can create a resistance.

Genetic change in a bacterium can have an effect in resistance. Most bacteria work by inactivating an essential bacterial protein. Genetic change can remove that protein and also mutations in the target protein can prevent the antibiotic from binding. Production of the antibiotics target enzyme can also be increased by genetic change meaning that there are too many and the antibiotics cannot inactivate them all. Not only

In addition, antibiotics can inhibit the growth of susceptible bacteria. Sometimes bacteria survive because they can escape the effect of the antibiotic. One bacterium can now multiply and change the bacteria that were killed off. The exposure to the antibiotic now provides selective pressure. This makes the bacteria that are alive more likely to be resistant.

For medical professionals, some of the hardest illnesses to cure are bacterial illness that will not respond to antibiotics. With this being said, antibiotic resistant bacteria are very dangerous. Some bacteria contain bacterial plasmids that contain genes, which function to improve the cell’s likelihood to survive under certain conditions. Plasmids are very tiny, circular DNA molecules within bacteria. They are passed on to daughter cells because enzymes can replicate them.

Antibiotics are derived from microbes that work by inhibiting the growth or by killing other bacteria (Tortora, Funke, and Case 549). Usually our body’s immune system is an ample defense by stopping microbes from replicating or killing them. However, sometimes the body can become overwhelmed and that is when antibiotics are used to help out our immune systems. An important dilemma in medicine is the increasing occurrence of antibiotic resistance, which occurs when bacteria are exposed to the same antibiotics over and over and eventually makes them less effective (Tortora, Funke, and Case 549). Antibiotic-resistant bacteria are bacteria that are not killed by common antibiotics (“Antibiotics”, 2007, para.6). There are several ways bacteria can develop antibiotic resistance: by altering of the drug target, altering membrane permeability, by developing enzymes that can inactivate the drug, developing alternate synthetic pathways, or acquire resistance by exposure to microbe with resistance genes. This spreading of genes is the result of plasmids that transfer R factors which contain two groups of genes: a resistance transfer factor and the r-determinant, which has the resistance genes (Tortora, Funke, and Case 232). R factors can be a problem in the healthcare field because of the misuse of antibiotics. This leads to preferential selection of bacteria that have R factors and results in populations of resistant bacteria growing larger and larger (Tortora, Funke,

Alexander Fleming discovered penicillin, the first modern antibiotic, in 1928, and by 1940, scientists reported that bacteria had developed resistance. In February 27, 2017, The World Health Organization (WHO) published its first-ever list of antibiotic-resistant priority pathogens–a catalogue of 12 families of bacteria that pose the greatest threat to human health. In the category Priority 1, which WHO entitled as critical, is Carbapenem-Resistant Enterobacteriaceae, (CRE) (Lawe-Davies & Bennet, 2017). Antibiotic-resistant bacteria have changed their response to the use of existing antibiotics by changing their morphology, gene expression, and their mutation rate. Mutations enable the bacteria to produce enzymes that can

Since the 1940’s antibiotics have greatly decreased death and illness due to infectious diseases. These drugs have had a significant impact on patient’s health when used correctly and appropriately. (CDC, 2013) However sometimes they are overused. When these antibiotics are overused, or used for diseases in which they are not necessary the infectious organism could become antibiotic resistant.

Antibiotic resistance is one of the greatest threats to global health, food security and development today. It occurs naturally, but the pace of its process speeds up when given to humans and animals and it can affect anyone regardless of age and country of residence (Laxminarayan et al., 2013). According to World Health Organization (WHO), there are 700,000 people die every year because of antibiotic resistance (WHO,2016). Antibiotic resistance is on the rise to dangerous levels around the world, and new resistance mechanisms are emerging and spreading globally and threaten our ability to treat common infectious diseases. A study by the Public Health Foundation in England between 2010 and 2013 found that prescription antibiotics increased by 6 percent and Escherichia coli resistance was recorded by 12 percent for the same period. There is a growing list of infections such as pneumonia, tuberculosis, septicaemia and gonorrhoea, which have become more difficult, sometimes impossible, to treat because of the low efficacy of antibiotics (Levy and Marshall, 2004). The world needs to change the way that antibiotics are prescribed and used. Even if new drugs are introduced, antibiotic resistance will continue to pose a significant threat unless it converts the behaviour of these drugs, a change that must also involve measures that limit the spread of infection by vaccination, washing hands, safe sex and take care of food hygiene. The abuse and excessive use of antibiotics