¶ … integrons has been driven by the alarmingly rapid appearance of antibiotic resistance among a number of bacteria liked to widespread disease in the last century. These bacteria have become an increasing threat to human health, and have often been featured in the media as "super bugs" that may evade any attempts to control their effects using antibiotic treatments. As a result, research into the genetic mechanisms that these drugs use to acquire genetic resistance has been followed with growing interest. The discovery of integrons may well therefore become known as one of the most important stepping-stones in this research (Rowe-Magnus).
Integrons are simply bacterial systems that allow the bacteria to capture and express DNA from other bacteria. Integrons capture foreign gene cassettes that code for important metabolic functions. Many of these gene cassettes contain genetic material that confers resistance to antibiotic drugs. There are over 70 different antibiotic resistance genes known in gene cassettes, a number that coincides with most of the antimicrobial drugs in use today (Rowe-Magnus).
Integrons are "natural cloning and expression systems that incorporate open reading frames and convert them to functional genes" (Rowe-Magnus et al., 652). An integrase is coded for by the integron platform, and then the integrase acts to mediate the recombination that occurs between a secondary target (attC site), and a primary recombination site (attI) (Rowe Magnus...
Antibiotic resistant organisms has become a topic of much debate in recent years. Antibiotic resistance is a serious concern because of the health care implications that occur as a result of this problem. The purpose of this discussion is to explain antibiotic resistance development in humans. The research will also provide a General overview of specific strains, causes and effects. Antibiotic Resistance Development According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
Conventional approaches including bacterial therapy are becoming less effective and in some cases completely ineffective for combating bacterial infection. Bacteria are evolving, becoming smarter and more virulent, and increasingly resistant to traditional treatment including antibiotic use. While scan the literature available on probiotic use supports use of probiotics for treating drug resistant strains of bacteria in some cases (Diped, 2003). If nothing else the literature supports the use of
Macrolide: Erythromycin This is a proposal describing a study to test the hypothesis that: The macrolide, erythromycin, normally used to treat individuals with community-acquired pneumonia, causes significant antibiotic resistance in patients in Europe but not individuals in the United States. 9 sources To assess the prevalence of macrolide resistance (Erythromycin) among pneumococci in Europe and the United States and difference in frequency of Erythromycin use in both countries for respiratory infections. To
Efficiency of Antibiotic Resistance Gene Transfer Mechanisms Upon Exposure to Triclosan Triclosan has become the latest buzz word in the grocery store. It is being hailed as the ultimate biocide and finds its way into many everyday products such as toothpaste and hand soap. Mass media produced a great amount of hype and convinced the general public that this was necessary to protect them from potentially harmful or even fatal bacteria.
One organism, Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA), kills approximately 19,000 Americans annually, which is more than HIV / AIDS, Parkinson's disease, emphysema, and homicide combined (5). In the mid-1980s, the incidence of MRSA isolates was close to zero, and by 1998 the incidence of MRSA was approximately 70% in Japan, 40% in Belgium, 30% in the United Kingdom, and 28% in the United States (1). Every year, 2 million Americans
Antibiotic Resistant Streptococci There are more than thirty different species of streptococcal bacteria. The infections that strep causes in humans range from "strep throat," which is caused by Group A strep and relatively easily treatable, to diseases such as pneumonia and serious wound infections, both of which can prove deadly.(1) Antibiotics were first developed during World War II, and have saved many millions of human lives since then that would have been
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