Antibiotic resistance occurs when an antibiotic has lost its ability to effectively control or kill bacterial growth. The bacterium become resistant and continue to multiply rapidly. The antibiotics will target susceptible or weaker bacterial cells and will usually end up eliminating them, but for immune bacterial cells also known as Superbugs antibiotics are harmless. Some bacteria are naturally immune to antibiotics like penicillin, giving them a huge survival advantage. There are two other ways bacteria can become resistant to antibiotics. Since bacteria can replicate and reproduce so rapidly, when a mutation occurs many bacterium are able to develop the resistant trait. For example, when a mutation occurs the bacterial cell that is infected may develop the ability to produce potent chemicals (enzymes) that inactivate antibiotics, while other mutations eliminate the cell target that the antibiotic attacks. If no mutations occur however, certain bacteria may acquire antibiotic resistance from another bacterium that has the trait through the process of Conjugation. During this process the Plasmid (contains the resistant trait) will move through the philus tube and into the new cell. Thus giving that bacterial cell the new advantage. Bacterial cells can also can acquire this trait through Transduction which occurs when a virus injects its DNA into the bacteriophage. The resistant trait is packaged in the head of the virus and will then be injected into the bacterial cell, giving it the Superbug mentality. Our use of antibiotics is contributing to the development of Superbugs because the bacteria are becoming more and more immune to our methods of protection.
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