How do bacteria get to be resistant to antibiotics if not by evolution?

Answer 1

This is, of course a stumbling block for creationists because it is evolution and it is observable and we know how it happens.

Unfortunately, there is one problem that stops it from being perfect. Bacteria can pass genetic information between themselves and antibiotic resistance can spread by the 'sharing' of plasmid encoding protein which degrade/export antibiotics, which itsself is not evolution.

Another good example of contempory evolution, of course, is the human influenza virus and the bird flu (H5N1) virus

Answer 2

They wouldn't.
Antibiotic resistance has to first arise spontaneously by mutation. The gene is usually not advantageous to the bacterium unless there is actually an antibiotic in its environment (bacteria with an antibiotic resistance gene usually grow slower than others). But if there is the corresponding antibiotic present in its environment then obviously the bacterium which has the correct resistance has a huge advantage. So it is selected.
While it is true that bacteria can exchange genetic material, this is not an argument against evolution, because the gene for the antibiotic resistance has first to come into existence and has to be selected for and convey an advantage to its carrier.
It is also not adaptation, as adaptation does not create new genes, it may switch genes already present in the organism on or off, but adaptation never will create a new gene. An example is that as a human you never will be able to breathe if there is no oxygen in the air. Some bacteria can (facultative anaerobic bacteria). In this instance you can say those bacteria adapt to the lack of the oxygen in the air. I don't think you find a human who is capable of doing that.

Answer 3

It would simply be a mutation. I just learned this in my class, so bare with me here, but the idea is that 99 bacteria may have the same genes and reproduce and live on. Then a person may take an antibiotic that will kill those 99 bacteria, but low and behold one little bacteria has a gene that just happens to be resistant to antibiotics. This lone bacteria can now produce more bacteria that are resistant to the antibiotic. Now, I KNOW this happens with viruses, it happens often with with stuff like the flu or AIDS, but i am not sure about bacteria.

What I have heard, and don't quote me on this, is that bacteria and viruses tend to gain resistance when people fail to finish the bottle of drugs that were given to them by a doctor, thinking they are better. I don't know how the mutation occurs, but it is supposedly how they become hybrid.

Answer 4

The evolutionary aspect is absolutely accurate. However, let me also point out another facet to this that goes beyond random mutations and selective pressure.

Horizontal gene transfer is something else to consider beyond the standard answer of mutations.

The multidrug resistance plasmids that are causing the VRSA and MRSA and drug resistant enterococci are passed around between bacteria, allowing the for the instant transformation from susceptible to x number of antibiotics to resistant to x number. (yes, this is occuring and is not just a drug company hoax to steal that one chicks money).

Another example (there are many) is that the same tetracyclin resistance gene is found in transposons in Clostridium perfringens, C. difficile and Enterococcus faecilis. This isn't convergent evolution, it's horizontal transfer of the gene, mediated by transposons in this case.

Answer 5

Bacteria evolve via their mutations and the selective process of mutating to a resistant form. Give antibiotics against the normal bacteria to kill them, but the mutant bacteria, resistant to the antibiotic, thrive and become the dominant form.

Answer 6

The older antibiotics work just as well as they ever did. The "germ-resistant" newer antibiotics are a scam to get doctors to prescribe more expensive drugs so the Big Pharmaceutical Industry can make more money. When your doctor prescribes an antibiotic tell him that you want an affordable one. They work just as well and cost tons less.

As far as MRSA is concerned it involves semi-synthetic antibiotics which were revealed as ineffective for gram-negative bacteria as early as 1963. Since they were never effective against those bacteria which have been around since before 1949 how can anyone say that the antibiotic became ineffective. It was never effective.

There are currently cases of antibiotic resistant strains of tuberculosis. Such things occur
when infections are treated with antibiotics but not long enough to kill the entire infection. Many of these cases have arisen in prisons (particularly in Russia) because the the prisoners are treated untill symptoms subside and then taken off of treatment, or often they are released before the treatment is complete and the exconvicts cannot afford to continue the treatment.

Answer 7

Actually i see it as an allergy becomes resistent to allergens from allergy shots that increase the bodies ability to handle the stresses of the same allergies they are exposed to...

The resistence that the array of bacterias has acquired... is a direct response to medications that have been overused... and or used without cultures to support their need in the first place...

the strength of the bacteria is similar to the strenghth of the body to resist a reaction from an allergen.

This is actually a normal response from the original body... not a new physiological occurance that could be related to evolution and its subtle and painstakingly alterations to improve or perpetuate existence.

Answer 8

In your question, change 'evolution' to 'natural selection' and you are on the money. Evolution is a larger theory, of which natural selection is a part, that posits that all life is derived from a single organism that diversified over time.

Answer 9

the same way as if you get punched in the face everyday u develope e resistance to it and get a hard lumpy head .... its not evolution

Answer 10

point mutations - it happens natually, but since bateria have a such a short cycle, it is sped up much quicker. It is a form of adaptation - microevolution, if you will.