Antibiotic Resistance
Antibiotics = Recovery from wounds + other infections
Antibiotic resistance = biggest threats to global health
How do antibiotics work
Antibiotics = chemicals that kill bacteria (penicillin, amoxicillin, ciprofloxacin,
vancomycin)
Many work by stopping peptidoglycan/murein molecules in bacterial cell wall
actually linking together to make solid strong wall around bacteria when cell division
has ended.
How bacteria become antibiotic resistant
By producing enzymes that break down antibiotics, which decrease number of
protein channels that let antibiotics in.
Another way is changing receptor on cell membrane.
These proteins are coded for by genes, often as plasmids (tiny circles of DNA).
These genes are shared between bacteria and then alleles can be passed down to
future generations, so they become antibiotic resistant.
Natural selection
1. Variation In population, (individuals of SAME species living in the same area
at the same time + share same genes)
2. Because of mutations (random) – make different alleles of specific genes,
(different versions of the same gene).
3. Selection pressure from the environment causes,
4. Only those with most advantageous alleles survive + reproduce,
5. Advantageous alleles passed to future generations; so, frequency of
advantageous alleles increase,
6. Proportion of population best adapted increase
Antibiotic Resistance
Antibiotics = Recovery from wounds + other infections
Antibiotic resistance = biggest threats to global health
How do antibiotics work
Antibiotics = chemicals that kill bacteria (penicillin, amoxicillin, ciprofloxacin,
vancomycin)
Many work by stopping peptidoglycan/murein molecules in bacterial cell wall
actually linking together to make solid strong wall around bacteria when cell division
has ended.
How bacteria become antibiotic resistant
By producing enzymes that break down antibiotics, which decrease number of
protein channels that let antibiotics in.
Another way is changing receptor on cell membrane.
These proteins are coded for by genes, often as plasmids (tiny circles of DNA).
These genes are shared between bacteria and then alleles can be passed down to
future generations, so they become antibiotic resistant.
Natural selection
1. Variation In population, (individuals of SAME species living in the same area
at the same time + share same genes)
2. Because of mutations (random) – make different alleles of specific genes,
(different versions of the same gene).
3. Selection pressure from the environment causes,
4. Only those with most advantageous alleles survive + reproduce,
5. Advantageous alleles passed to future generations; so, frequency of
advantageous alleles increase,
6. Proportion of population best adapted increase
Antibiotic Resistance
