How do bacteria develop resistance to antibodies? What can man do
medically to speed up the selection of antibiotic resistant pathogens?
What processes canthe pathagens perform to improve their likelihood of
developing antibiotic resistance?

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Request for Question Clarification by techtor-ga on 18 Jun 2003 04:04 PDT

I'd like to ask for a clarification about your next two questions. Are
you implying that if someone is intentionally developing a bacterium
that is resistant to antibiotics, you're asking how it could be done?
Or are you asking about the mistakes or improper actions people do
that contribute to bacterial antibiotic resistance? In the third
question, do you want to know the processes bacteria use to develop
antibiotic resistance? I hope you don't mind, I was quite unsure of
how I understood your second and third question. Thank you.

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Clarification of Question by cynnryan-ga on 18 Jun 2003 05:54 PDT

Hello, The 2nd part to the question I hope is what you asked What can
man do medicaly and intentionally to develope bacteria that can speed
up the resistance of antiobioyic pathogens. The last part of the
question is Yes I need to know the process that pathogens perform in
developing antibiotic resistance. Thank you for all your help.

Hello Cynnryan,
Firstly it will help to know what bacteria are. A bacterium is a
single cell organism, basically a cell with an interactive shell
(capsule) around it. Fungi is similar to bacteria in being a
decomposer.
	Not all bacteria are harmful. Some bacteria are in fact vital for
human existence, such as lactobacilli. The bacteria that do harm to
our body by causing disease are called pathogenic bacteria. Bacteria
beneficial to human life are not pathogens. Some bacteria reside in
the human body to aid in digestion and other body processes.
	Antibiotics are themselves derivatives of bacteria. Erythromycin
comes from the bacterium Streptomyces Erythraeus. Penicillin was
developed from a type of fungus.

There are many reasons why bacteria can become resistant to
antibiotics. I’ll use the three main reasons mentioned in the Muthamil
website below.
- Mutation: The bacterium can change it’s structure or makeup so that
the antibiotic substance can no longer interact with it or recognize
it. This is like “changing the target” in the Muthamil website. This
is observed to be the most common way antibiotic resistance is
developed.
	The detailed explanation here on how the mutation and other
resistance forms happen will answer your number 3 question. Bacteria
have a gene that allow them to change and render themselves
unrecognizable to a substance that tries to attack them. If you’ve
heard of the AIDS HIV virus, it constantly mutates so a final cure
could not be found for it. Bacteria can mutate as well, though not in
a radical manner like the HIV.
The mutation can be spontaneous, the bacterium may mutate immediately
upon meeting a new antibiotic. But it can also acquire information
from other bacteria, even those of different species. DNA coding which
carries information about an antibiotic can be transferred through a
kind of bacterial “sex” called transformation. A third way is by
transfer of plasmids, also a chain of DNA, but it is not transferred
though transformation and can carry resistances to multiple antibiotic
types. The source bacteria are definitely those that survived previous
antibiotic attacks.
- Diverting the antiobiotic: Bacteria have developed ways to stop the
antibiotic from attacking them directly. One is their changing the
permeability of their shells so that the antibiotic is unable to pass
through. Sometimes a bacterium creates a substance from ATP that
ejects the antibiotic from its system.
- Destroying the antibiotic: The most direct approach of them all. The
bacterium knows something is trying to attack it. The solution:
destroy it first. For example, there some bacteria that produce
enzymes capable of dissolving penicillin. This information can also be
carried in DNA transfers.

If you are thinking of manmade bacterial resistance to antibiotics,
what men have done unintentionally can provide a clue. For example,
giving an antibiotic when it is not needed will allow certain
pathogenic bacteria present in the patient’s body to sample the drug
and identify it, so when the person gets sick due to that bacteria
class, the antibiotic will have no or reduced effect.
	Perhaps the processes used in creating biological warfare agents are
the processes you are looking for when intentionally creating
antibiotic-resistant strains of bacteria. Microbiologists are employed
in this sector to design and culture bacteria that produce a desired
effect. Culturing bacteria would involve mixing different types,
making them interact and mutate, and maybe introduce substances to
produce a certain mutation.

Sources:

About Bacteria:
Bacteria and bacterial anatomy 
http://www.macc.cc.mo.us/~biology/Bacteria_and_Anatomy.html

Introduction to the Bacteria
http://www.ucmp.berkeley.edu/bacteria/bacteria.html

What is microbiology?
http://www.ku.edu/~micro/whatmicro.html


Antibiotic resistance articles:
Antibiotic resistance - Whyfiles
http://whyfiles.org/038badbugs/

Whyfiles explanation on bacteria developing resistance to antibiotics
http://whyfiles.org/038badbugs/mechanism.html

Jack's "Bugs in the News" - What the Heck is Antibiotic Resistance?
http://people.ku.edu/~jbrown/resistance.htm

The Rise of Antibiotic-Resistant Infections by FDA
http://www.fda.gov/fdac/features/795_antibio.html

Bacteria More Resistant To Antibiotics, Study Says – Washington Post
http://www.therealessentials.com/bacteria.html

Unnecessary Use of Antibiotics Adds to Resistant Bacteria - Health
Tips - Boys Town Pediatrics
http://www.boystownpediatrics.org/HealthTips/antibiotics.asp

Caring for Kids: Antibiotics
http://www.caringforkids.cps.ca/whensick/Antibiotics.htm

Muthamil.com – How do bacteria become resistant to antibiotics
http://www.muthamil.com/sci/bacteriaresistant.shtml


Culturing bacteria:
Experiment of culturing bacteria
http://www.cfe.cornell.edu/compost/culturing.html

Growth and culturing of bacteria
http://www.mansfield.ohio-state.edu/~sabedon/black06.htm


Other possible resources:
New drugs kill bacteria resistant to antibiotics
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/national/medi213.shtml


Search terms used:
bacteria resistant antibiotics
bacteria anatomy
“what is” bacteria
culturing bacteria

I hope this has been a most helpful answer. If you have any problem
with it, do please post a Request for Clarification and I shall
respond. Thank you.

If you are thinking of manmade bacterial resistance to antibiotics,
what men have done unintentionally can provide a clue. For example,
giving an antibiotic when it is not needed will allow certain
pathogenic bacteria present in the patient’s body to sample the drug
and identify it, so when the person gets sick due to that bacteria
class, the antibiotic will have no or reduced effect.

-----------------

Antibiotics do not eliminate all bacteria from a patients body, some
pathogenic bacteria are elimated by the patients immune system. Due to
natural mutations in large populations in bacteria, and their fast
reproductive rate means that they are able to adapt very well to new
environments.

giving an antibiotic when it is not needed will kill a certain
population of the bateria (good and bad) in the patient. Occasionally
a mutation in the reproduction of a bacteria (good and bad) occurs and
possibly a small percentage of its progeny will be able to neutralise
the antibiotic, or a small % will be immune to its action. Usually
during the course of the antibiotics the bacteria is weakened by the
antibiotic even if it survives and the patients immune system recovers
to clear the infection.

giving an antibiotic when it is not needed usually leads to the
patient not finishing a course of drugs completely, as the patient
usually starts feeling better. This leads to lower doses of
antibiotics allowing natural selection to kill of the bacterial that
are very sensitive to the antibiotic. Those that are more resistant,
reproduce producing a new generation that are more resistant.

Once resistance to an antibiotic is developed in one strain of bateria
(good and or bad), it will spread. Authorities track the spread of
vancomycin resistant staph (VRS), as bacteria are becoming resistant
to last resort antibiotics.

Unfortunately, bacteria have had billions of years to learn how to
adapt to change, we cant find antibiotic drugs faster than they can
develop resistance.

simple race that we might not win - think of that next time the doctor
writes a script when you've got a sore throat.

d3x