Why can bacteria adapt to antibiotics, but not adapt to environmental things like heat or acids/soaps (Salmonella as an example)?

Question

Edit: I’ve had a lot of fun reading all of your analogies

In: 64

Answer 1

Heat/acid/soap are fundamentally destructive for ALL cells/organic matter (humans have relatively thick skin that protects us from these effects), as it literally rips the cell apart – there’s no realistic way a bacterial cell could protect itself from this. Antibiotics are much more targeted and don’t physically destroy the cell, rather they enter the cell and prevent the bacterium from building it cell wall / membrane, causing it slowly break down. Certain bacteria have evolved ways of preventing the antibiotic from entering, resulting in antibiotic resistance.