Development of Resistance to Antibiotics

Widespread use and misuse of penicillin and other antibiotics have resulted in development of resistance most antibiotics. The mechanisms by which microorganisms develop resistance to antibiotics are discussed. Topics covered include acquisition of point mutations and antibiotic resistance genes, methods of transfer of resistance genes between bacteria, and the advantages of synthetic antibiotics. Contribution of subtherapeutic use of antibiotics to resistance development and the response of the governments and other regulatory agencies to address the problem are also discussed. 2.1 Antibiotics Are No Longer Considered to be Miracle Drugs Antibiotics, which were hailed as the miracle drugs that cured most infected people before, do not work in many cases today. This is because bacteria are increasingly becoming resistant to antibiotics at an alarming rate and the resistance is spreading throughout the world among all species of bacteria. The main reason for this resistance development is the excessive use of the antibiotics. After the discovery and introduction of penicillin people were so excited about its miracle properties in curing infections that the drug was not only available as over-the-counter medicine (one that does not require a prescription) but was also added to a large variety of household items such as ointments and cosmetics. Later the practice was banned and penicillin was made a prescription drug but by then there was already widespread resistance to the antibiotic. It is not surprising that development of antibiotic resistant bacteria is a major concern in the scientifi c and medical community. This is evident from the amount of research that is being done on the subject. When signifi cant amount of research has been done on an important scientifi c topic, journals usually publish review articles on the topic. So one way to determine the importance of a research topic is to count how many review articles are being published on that subject. To do that, one can search in the “PubMed” website of NCBI and search for “antibiotic resistance” or “ antimicrobial resistance” reviews for each year. The website will display a list of all the review articles on antibiotic resistance that have been published in that