Name _____________________________________ Period ____
What causes antibiotic resistance? - Kevin Wu
http://ed.ted.com/lessons/how-antibiotics-become-resistant-over-time-kevin-wu
1. Which of the following is not a method by which antibiotics attempt to kill bacteria?
a. Crippling the cell wall
b. Forming a membrane around the cell
c. Interfering with protein formation
d. Block RNA and DNA synthesis
2. How do antibiotic-rich environments like hospitals speed up the rate at which superbugs
increase their percentage of the bacteria population?
a. Increase the rate of mutations in bacteria
b. Increase the size of the bacteria
c. Increase the bacteria’s rate of reproduction
d. Increase selective pressures leaving mainly resistant bacteria alive
3. Penicillin-binding protein 2a, encoded by the medA gene, isn’t affected by beta-lactam
antibiotics.
a. True
b. False
4. Not all bacteria are antibiotic-resistant. How might some of those non-resistant bacteria
become antibiotic-resistant?
5. A lack of antibiotics reduces overall bacterial death. How does this decrease the likelihood
that antibiotic-resistant bacteria will out compete non-resistant bacteria?
6. More and more bacteria are becoming antibiotic-resistant. How might this affect our ability to
fight certain infectious diseases in the future?