Microbiome
Some use “microbiome” to mean all the microbes in a community. We and others use it to mean the full collection of genes of all the microbes in a community. The human microbiome (all of our microbes’ genes) can be considered a counterpart to the human genome (all of our genes). The genes in our microbiome outnumber the genes in our genome by about 100 to 1.
What Is An Antibiotic?
http://learn.genetics.utah.edu/content/microbiome/antibiotics/The discovery of the antibiotic penicillin in the 1920s made a big impact on human history. Not only did it lead to a cure for bacterial infections that were once deadly, but it also led a big interest in finding new antibiotics. Today many different types of antibiotics are available, and they fight infection in several ways.
Have you ever wondered how antibiotics kill invading bacteria, while leaving human cells
alone? Although there are similarities between bacteria and human cells, there are many
differences as well. Antibiotics work by affecting things that bacterial cells have but
human cells don’t.
For example, human cells do not have cell walls, while many types of bacteria do. The antibiotic penicillin works by keeping a bacterium from building a cell wall. Bacteria and human cells also differ in the structure of their cell membranes and the machinery they use to build proteins or copy DNA. Some antibiotics dissolve the membrane of just bacterial cells. Others affect protein-building or DNA-copying machinery that is specific to bacteria.
Antibiotics Harm Friendly Bacteria
When you take an antibiotic, it enters your bloodstream and travels through your body, killing bacteria but not human cells. There are few differences, however, between harmful and friendly bacteria. Antibiotics kill not only the bad bacteria making you sick, but also your resident friendly bacteria.
Friendly bacteria help keep you healthy in many ways, so when antibiotics kill friendly bacteria, your health can suffer because you lose these benefits. Additionally, losing friendly bacteria can give other types of bacteria room to multiply, leading to opportunistic infection. Sometimes opportunistic infection happens when bacteria from the environment get into your body and overrun friendly bacteria damaged by an antibiotic. Other times opportunistic infection begins when antibiotics disturb the balance of your resident microbes, and normally friendly bacteria multiply too quickly and become harmful.
For example, human cells do not have cell walls, while many types of bacteria do. The antibiotic penicillin works by keeping a bacterium from building a cell wall. Bacteria and human cells also differ in the structure of their cell membranes and the machinery they use to build proteins or copy DNA. Some antibiotics dissolve the membrane of just bacterial cells. Others affect protein-building or DNA-copying machinery that is specific to bacteria.
Antibiotics Harm Friendly Bacteria
When you take an antibiotic, it enters your bloodstream and travels through your body, killing bacteria but not human cells. There are few differences, however, between harmful and friendly bacteria. Antibiotics kill not only the bad bacteria making you sick, but also your resident friendly bacteria.
Friendly bacteria help keep you healthy in many ways, so when antibiotics kill friendly bacteria, your health can suffer because you lose these benefits. Additionally, losing friendly bacteria can give other types of bacteria room to multiply, leading to opportunistic infection. Sometimes opportunistic infection happens when bacteria from the environment get into your body and overrun friendly bacteria damaged by an antibiotic. Other times opportunistic infection begins when antibiotics disturb the balance of your resident microbes, and normally friendly bacteria multiply too quickly and become harmful.
Antibiotic Resistance:http://learn.genetics.utah.edu/content/microbiome/resistance/
The discovery that antibiotics can treat bacterial infections dramatically changed human health, and
many once deadly infections are now curable. Yet often we hear about bacteria that are no longer killed
effectively by antibiotics. These bacteria are known as antibiotic resistant, and they’re a growing
problem in medicine.
Frequent antibiotic use over long periods of time puts selective pressure on bacteria, and causes
resistance to spread. When an antibiotic is used to treat a typical bacterial infection, most bacteria
are killed. Sometimes, however, a bacterium with an advantage lives. This bacterium can then reproduce
and pass its advantage on, creating many more antibiotic resistant bacteria.
Antibiotic resistance is not new. In fact, it existed long before people discovered how to use antibiotics as medicine. Many antibiotics are made from compounds bacteria or fungi produce to help them compete in their natural environments. This means that in nature, bacteria are under selective pressure to pass on advantages, just like they are when we treat an infection with antibiotics. Sometimes in medicine, antibiotics are used too often or incorrectly, which can cause resistance to spread faster than it would naturally.
The emergence of antibiotic resistance creates a new challenge
for public health, and there is no
simple solution. To treat a resistant infection and prevent
resistance from spreading, doctors sometimes
prescribe a broad-spectrum approach. This approach combines
multiple antibiotics that attack bacteria in different ways. It can work
better because it is unlikely that a single bacterium will be resistant
to multiple antibiotics. Yet for the same reason, this approach kills
many more friendly bacteria and can
cause related health complications.
Antibiotic resistance can also be prevented in other ways. Doctors are being extra careful not to prescribe antibiotics unless they’re absolutely necessary. You can help too. If you need to take an antibiotic, follow the instructions carefully and finish your prescription even if you start feeling better. Antibiotics are a valuable tool for fighting bacterial infections, and using them responsibly now will help make sure they continue working in the future.
Antibiotic resistance can also be prevented in other ways. Doctors are being extra careful not to prescribe antibiotics unless they’re absolutely necessary. You can help too. If you need to take an antibiotic, follow the instructions carefully and finish your prescription even if you start feeling better. Antibiotics are a valuable tool for fighting bacterial infections, and using them responsibly now will help make sure they continue working in the future.
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