I understand they kill bacteria – but why only bacteria? What’s the difference between a bacteria cell and a me cell?
In: Biology
It depends on which antibiotic and which bacteria. In short, most antibiotics either alter the genetic replication process of the bacteria themselves or they mess with the cell wall permeability of the bacteria causing the cells to rupture. Your own immune system still does work in getting rid of bacteria, antibiotics just prevent rapid proliferation of the bacteria.
There are many different types of Antibiotics. They target very specific functions of bacteria cells, such as their circular plasmid DNA, their peptidoglycan cell wall or other properties that mammal cells do not have
There are antibiotics that dissolve/puncture the cell walls of bacteria, making their cell contents spill out. There are also antibiotics that penetrate the cell wall and interfere with cell division, making the bacteria stop multiplying. There are also antibiotics that are absorbed by bacteria and stop them from producing important proteins.
The thing is, bacteria can develop counter measures to all these antibiotics. They can evolve pumps to remove the antibiotic once it enters them, or change the composition of their cell wall so it can’t be easily punctured, etc. The longer the bacteria is exposed to antibiotics, the more likely it will develop resistance.
The scarier thing is that bacteria can exchange genetic information through plasmids. So a single strain of antibiotic resistant bacteria can grant that resistance to other unrelated bacteria. So while antibiotics are very useful, they shouldn’t be abused. Or we might face a future where that antibiotic becomes completely useless against even common illnesses.
Latest Answers