Antibiotic resistance
hideAntibiotic resistance is the ability of a microorganism to withstand the effects of antibiotics. It is a specific type of drug resistance. Antibiotic resistance evolves via natural selection acting upon random mutation, but it can also be engineered by applying an evolutionary stress on a population. Once such a gene is generated, bacteria can then transfer the genetic information in a horizontal fashion (between individuals) by plasmid exchange. If a bacterium carries several resistance genes, it is called multiresistant or, informally, a superbug. The term antimicrobial resistance is sometimes used to explicitly encompass organisms other than bacteria.
Antibiotic resistance can also be introduced artificially into a microorganism through transformation protocols. This can aid in implanting artificial genes into the microorganism. If the resistance gene is linked with the gene to be implanted, the antibiotic can be used to kill off organisms that lack the new gene.
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News tagged with antibiotic resistance
We are facing a global pandemic of antibiotic resistance, warn experts
Sep 19, 2008 |
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Vital components of modern medicine such as major surgery, organ transplantation, and cancer chemotherapy will be threatened if antibiotic resistance is not tackled urgently, warn experts on bmj.com today.
Man-made crises 'outrunning our ability to deal with them,' scientists warn
Sep 11, 2009 |
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The world faces a compounding series of crises driven by human activity, which existing governments and institutions are increasingly powerless to cope with, a group of eminent environmental scientists and economists has ...
Researchers uncover clue in spread of 'superbugs'
Nov 03, 2008 |
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A discovery from the Oklahoma Medical Research Foundation has put scientists are one step closer to finding a defense against dangerous antibiotic-resistant bacteria, sometimes called "superbugs."
Researchers discover a new antibacterial lead
Sep 27, 2009 |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- Antibiotic resistance has been a significant problem for hospitals and health-care facilities for more than a decade. But despite the need for new treatment options, there have been only two ...
Bacterial 'sex' causes antibiotic resistance
Jun 11, 2009 |
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Some disease-causing bacteria are becoming resistant to antibiotics because they have peculiar sex lives, say researchers publishing new results today in the journal Science. The new study helps scientists understand how ba ...
Study reveals why certain drug combinations backfire
Nov 13, 2009 |
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Combination drug therapy has become a staple for treating many infections. For instance, doctors treat extensively drug resistant forms of tuberculosis with one drug that breaks down the pathogen's protective barriers and ...
Probing Question: How does antibiotic resistance happen?
Mar 05, 2009 |
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Before Alexander Fleming's discovery of penicillin in 1928, there were any number of unpleasant ways that bacteria could kill you. Countless women died from infection after childbirth, and a simple chest cold could turn into ...
Structure mediating spread of antibiotic resistance identified
Jan 08, 2009 |
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Scientists have identified the structure of a key component of the bacteria behind such diseases as whooping cough, peptic stomach ulcers and Legionnaires' disease. The research, funded by the Wellcome Trust and the Biotechnology ...
Death by light: Nanoparticles as agents for the photodynamic killing of antibiotic-resistant bacteria
Nanotechnology / Bio & Medicine
Oct 05, 2009 |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- The increasing antibiotic resistance of bacteria is a serious problem of our time. Hospital germs in particular have developed strains against which practically every current antibiotic is ineffective. In ...
Free antibiotics: The wrong prescription for cold and flu season
Medicine & Health / Medications
Jan 16, 2009 |
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With an epidemic of antibiotic-resistant infections growing, experts are warning grocery-store pharmacies that antibiotics giveaways are an unhealthy promotional gimmick. If grocery stores want to help customers and save ...
Antibiotic multiresistance: why bacteria are so effective
May 25, 2009 |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- In an article due to be published in Science, teams from the Institut Pasteurand the University of Limoges, associated with the CNRS and Inserm, decipherfor the first time the molecular mechanism that enable ...
Chemical Additive Could Make Old Antibiotics Viable Against Antibiotic-Resistant Bugs
Sep 10, 2009 |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- A Texas Tech researcher said a recently patented chemical additive could break down the shield of certain types of antibiotic-resistant bacteria.
Misuse of antibiotics not the only cause of resistance says report
Oct 15, 2009 |
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The perception that antibiotic resistance is primarily the undesirable consequence of antibiotic abuse or misuse is a view that is simplistic and inaccurate, according to a recent report by the American Academy of Microbiology. ...
Researchers discover a way to strengthen proteins
Dec 10, 2009 |
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Proteins, which perform such vital roles in our bodies as building and maintaining tissues and regulating cellular processes, are a finicky lot. In order to work properly, they must be folded just so, yet many proteins readily ...
Antibiotic resistant bacteria found in fertilizer
May 29, 2009 |
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Vancomycin resistant enterococci (VRE) have been found in sewage sludge, a by-product of waste-water treatment frequently used as a fertilizer. Researchers writing in the open access journal Acta Veterinaria Scandinavica point out the ...
