WHAT IS BEHIND ANTIBIOTIC-RESISTANCE

Antibiotic resistance develops among bacterial species just as Darwin might have predicted - that is, through natural selection. Because bac terial species can share DNA by a variety of mechanisms, and because s ome of these microbes are inherently resistant to one or more major an tibiotics, we should not be surprised that clinically important specie s of bacteria can become resistant to commonly used antibiotics by cha nce alone. The rapid increase in the percentage of strains resistant t o one or more antibiotics, especially broad-spectrum agents, may be th e result of increased use of such compounds.