Antibiotic Resistance In Bacteria

Problem Background

About a hundred years ago, infectious diseases were the leading cause of death in the world as there were no treatments available for diseases caused by bacteria such as pneumonia, tuberculosis, gonorrhea, rheumatic fever and urinary tract infections. In 1929, when microbiologist Alexander Fleming discovered penicillin, the era of medicine began. Since then, a variety of antibiotics have been discovered that attacks the bacteria in different ways. Most antibiotics, like penicillin attacks the bacterial cell wall by inhibiting the synthesis of a component of the cell wall called peptidoglycan. Similarly, vancomycin attacks the bacterial cell wall but in a different way. Other classes of antimicrobial, like quinolones inhibits DNA replication; tetracyclines inhibit protein synthesis; and rifamycin inhibits RNA synthesis in the bacteria, thereby preventing bacterial multiplication.

Despite its miraculous function, antibiotic resistance can develop when an antibiotic is unable to control or kill bacterial growth. Bacteria can become resistant naturally, by genetic mutation or by acquiring resistance from other bacteria. Antibiotics kill susceptible bacteria while promoting selective pressure causing the survival of resistant bacterial strains. This mechanism is can be enhanced with the overuse and abuse of antibiotics. Spontaneous mutations rarely occur as it is estimated to occur one in one million to one in ten million cells. Bacteria can also develop antibiotic resistance from other bacteria by the reception of their genes through a simple mating process, called conjugation. Additionally, resistance traits can also be passed on by viruses. Regardless of how the bacterium acquires the resistant genes, they are ...

... middle of paper ...

...monitoring and research.

Despite the critical need for new antibiotics, for the past 15 years major pharmaceuticals that were involved in antibiotic research and development such as Pfizer, Johnson & Johnson, Eli Lily and Sanofi left the antibiotic research market because of its challenges in research, complicated regulatory by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and low returns on their investments. In the 1980s, thirty new antibiotics were approved by the FDA and from 2010 to 2012, only one was approved, emphasizing the difficult regulations. The estimated average cost of developing a new antibiotic is $359 million and it takes an average of 12 years for the drug to travel from the research lab to the patient. A strong necessity for new antibiotics has certainly arrived with the rapid rise in the number of antimicrobial resistant bacteria or superbugs.