Antibiotic Resistance Essays (350 words) - Evolutionary Biology

Antibiotic Resistance Darwin's theory of evolution can be explained like this; the environment acts as a selective agent, weeding out organisms less able to survive. Darwin described natural selection as a process in which organisms become better adapted to their environment. The organisms that evolved with beneficial variations are more likely to survive and reproduce, they pass on the favorable genetic material. Over time, the genetic composition of the species may become better able to escape being eaten or to capture prey. Do to such high demand for antibiotics around the world people have created their own antibiotic resistance and became immune to antibodies. At least half of the human use of antibiotics in the United States is unnecessary or inappropriate. For example, a patient demanding antibiotics for an illness that doesn't require them leads to a lot of unneeded drugs. Either the antibiotics are not needed at all, or it's the wrong dosage prescribed, or the wrong duration. More than 50 million pounds of antibiotics are produced in the United States every year. Forty percent of that total is given to animals, mostly to promote growth rather than treat disease. Antibiotic use is also rampant in agriculture. Drugs are sprayed on to fruit trees to prevent bacterial infections. The bad thing is, is that these bugs are developing a resistance to these drugs that once destroyed them. We are experiencing an alarming resurgence of common but no longer curable infections from bugs that developed resistance. This is by being too much involved with taking antibiotics for every little sickness and all other things that would require antibiotics. Another thing that would pose as a problem is the way that bacteria would evolve and adapt to our antibiotics. Darwin's theory can be related to antibiotic resistance in many ways. Through the years of using antibiotics against bacteria, we have seen that they usually get the job done. But as time progresses, so do the bacteria. As fast as we are producing the antibodies, the bacteria are adjusting to them faster. With all the antibiotics that humans take in, their bodies are becoming immune to the effects. Which is like Darwin's theory of natural selection; selecting out the organisms that cant adapt or adjust to the environment around them.