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Originally Posted by pan6467
what about bacteria growing immune to the antibiotics? We lose our antibiotics and it's a whole new world again.
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This really has nothing to do with (most) antibiotics since they are VERY readily oxidized (broken down) by light, water, and most things that are not inert. For the most part, antibiotics are not resilient chemical compounds.
The original "bacteria becoming resistant to antibiotics" stems from two problems:
1. over-prescribing antibiotics for non-bacterial infections
2. ignorant people NOT taking the full course of their prescription
The over-prescribing lead to stead low-level exposure of normally harmless bacteria in (and on) our bodies to antibiotics. This presents a "selective pressure" in which bacteria that are able to break-down the antibiotics before they are prevented from growing are preferentially selected -for- and all non-resistant bacteria tend to die. The now antibiotic resistant bacteria are able to "communicate" their resistance via. a few DNA swapping methods that enable other (possibly pathogenic) bacteria to be resistant to the same (in some cases family) of antibiotic. This is a 'nut-shell' version of how MRSA (methicillin resistant staphylococcus aureus) was evolved.
Yes. I said it - evolved
