The abuse of Triclosan, a biocide, also helps to contribute to antibiotic resistance in bacteria through cross resistance development. Triclosan is used in practically every consumer product, ranging from hand soap to plastics and even clothing. Triclosan is incorporated into a variety of products due to its high boiling point of 280 Celsius (Giuliano and Rybak 328). Triclosan is currently classified as an over the counter medication by the Federal Drug and Alcohol administration. This allows Triclosan to be used in over seventy five percent of hand soaps. Triclosan is used to prevent the transmission of bacterial infections. To examine the effectiveness of Triclosan Dr. Giuliano and Dr. Rybak conducted a study in New York City. Two hundred
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Bacteria are becoming resistant through three separate strategies explained by Dr. Salyers in “Revenge of the Microbes how Bacterial Resistance is Undermining the Antibiotic Miracle”. The first way bacteria try to defeat antibiotics is by turning the active drug into its inactive form. The bacteria do this by releasing specific proteins that interact with the antibiotic in a not so favorable way effectively making the drug useless. However, this method is not the most effective and is a way for the bacteria to prevent buildup of the concentration of antibiotics inside the cell. If the antibiotic does make its way inside the cell the bacteria is equipped with a protein pump in its cytoplasmic membrane. A certain concentration of antibiotics must be inside the cell for the cell to result in death, but with the development of this pump the bacteria can push out the drug before the concentration reaches optimal levels. The last method of resistance is to mutate the intend target of the antibiotic. Penicillin interacts with serine residues to inhibit the enzyme transpeptidase, which is made by the bacteria. If resistance is built, then the bacteria mutates the enzyme transpeptidase. This mutation makes transpeptidase unrecognizable to the penicillin, effectively making penicillin inadequate (Salyers 28). Continuing to use the same antibiotics will no longer be effective, and new drugs must be developed to combat this evolutionary problem. Astonishingly enough though, research and development of antibiotics is grinding to a
Bacteria are becoming resistant through three separate strategies explained by Dr. Salyers in “Revenge of the Microbes how Bacterial Resistance is Undermining the Antibiotic Miracle”. The first way bacteria try to defeat antibiotics is by turning the active drug into its inactive form. The bacteria do this by releasing specific proteins that interact with the antibiotic in a not so favorable way effectively making the drug useless. However, this method is not the most effective and is a way for the bacteria to prevent buildup of the concentration of antibiotics inside the cell. If the antibiotic does make its way inside the cell the bacteria is equipped with a protein pump in its cytoplasmic membrane. A certain concentration of antibiotics must be inside the cell for the cell to result in death, but with the development of this pump the bacteria can push out the drug before the concentration reaches optimal levels. The last method of resistance is to mutate the intend target of the antibiotic. Penicillin interacts with serine residues to inhibit the enzyme transpeptidase, which is made by the bacteria. If resistance is built, then the bacteria mutates the enzyme transpeptidase. This mutation makes transpeptidase unrecognizable to the penicillin, effectively making penicillin inadequate (Salyers 28). Continuing to use the same antibiotics will no longer be effective, and new drugs must be developed to combat this evolutionary problem. Astonishingly enough though, research and development of antibiotics is grinding to a