Mechanism of antibiotic resistance
Bacteria resist the effects of antibiotics by using the following genetic strategies, with thousands of variations2:
- Producing destructive enzymes to neutralise antibiotics
- Modifying antimicrobial targets, by mutation, so that drugs cannot recognise them
- Removing antimicrobial agents by pumping them out from cell
- Restricting access of the antibiotic from entering the cell by limiting the number or changing the size of the openings in the cell wall
- Creating bypasses that allow bacteria to function without the enzymes targeted by antibiotics