3.1.15

Antibiotic Resistance

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Antibiotic Resistance

Some strains of bacteria are resistant to certain antibiotics. This means that these antibiotics cannot kill them.

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MRSA

  • MRSA is often called a “superbug” because it is resistant to many antibiotics.
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How to stop antibiotic resistance?

  • To help prevent strains of resistant bacteria from developing:
    • Doctors should only prescribe antibiotics if they are needed and not for minor infections or viral infections.
    • Patients should complete their course of antibiotics to ensure all bacteria are killed.

Antibiotic Resistance

Bacteria can become resistant to antibiotics. This is the process:

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Random mutations

  • Within a population of bacteria, some will have random mutations (random change in DNA).
    • The mutated bacteria are resistant to antibiotics and so they are able to survive, whilst the non-resistant bacteria die.
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Natural selection

  • The resistant bacteria can reproduce rapidly because their competition (the non-resistant bacteria) has been destroyed by the antibiotic.
  • When the resistant bacteria reproduce, they produce genetically-identical copies. These copies will all be resistant to the antibiotics.

Jump to other topics

1Cell Biology

1.1What's in Cells?

1.2Cell Division

1.3Transport in Cells

2Organisation

2.1Principles of Organisation

2.2Enzymes

2.3Circulatory System

2.4Non-Communicable Diseases

2.5Plant Tissues, Organs & Systems

3Infection & Response

4Bioenergetics

5Homeostasis & Response

5.1Homeostasis

5.2The Human Nervous System

5.3Hormonal Coordination in Humans

5.4Plant Hormones

6Inheritance, Variation & Evolution

7Ecology

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