ANTIMICROBIAL DRUG RESISTANCE
During this course, we have covered biology of specific groups of organisms – bacteria, plants, animals, a bit of viruses- so during our LAST Coffee/Tea time discussion in this course, I would like to further examine how the biology and evolution of any organism is affected by the biology and evolution of other organisms.
A good biomedical example of this is antimicrobial drug resistance. So, let’s look at this more closely.
First, go to this website and watch the 5 minute NOVA video on one bacterium that has acquired antibiotic-resistance:
http://www.teachersdomain.org/asset/biot09_vid_kmicrobe/
(NOVA video, Killer Microbe)
Then, go to the following website, and from the left-hand side and bottom of the screen, read the following articles:
http://www.niaid.nih.gov/topics/antimicrobialresistance/Pages/default.aspx
a) Understanding Antimicrobial (Drug) Resistance (direct link: http://www.niaid.nih.gov/topics/antimicrobialResistance/understanding/Pages/default.aspx)
b) Examples of Antimicrobial (Drug) Resistance (direct link: http://www.niaid.nih.gov/topics/antimicrobialresistance/examples/Pages/default.aspx)
c) News and Events: NIH Funds Four Clinical Trials to Fight Antimicrobial Resistance—Oct. 19, 2010 (direct link: http://www.nih.gov/news/health/oct2010/niaid-19.htm
this last one is a dated NIH press release; you can definitely find more recent press releases about this at the NIH website; but I still recommend check this one out because it does a good job of summarizing what exactly the NIH is currently doing to address the wide-spread resistance to antimicrobials)
Then, if you have more time SKIM the articles attached to this post below.
Next, post your answer to one or more of the following questions under this discussion thread:
1. What is antimicrobial drug resistance?
2. What are the causes of antimicrobial drug resistance? (hint: make sure to cover ALL aspects of this – this can also occur “naturally”, explain how – think
genetic mutations)
3. Give a specific example of antimicrobial drug resistance; make sure to cover the mechanism of action of your specific drug AND the molecular mechanism of microbial adaptation/resistance.
4. Discuss some ways of reducing the likelihood of antimicrobial resistance.
5. What research is currently being done to combat antimicrobial resistance?
Again, only if you have extra time, also look at the following website:
http://www.cdc.gov/drugresistance/index.html
And the articles below:
Article on examples of bacterial drug resistance.pdf
WHO Q and A on antimicrobial resistance.pdf
Finally, now that you know how to use PubMed, I recommend that you search for additional articles about this topic to help you answer the above questions.
If you do use other journal articles, remember to site your references in your post.
