BSCS Biology: A Molecular Approach

Unit 2: The Cell: Homeostasis and Development

Antibiotic Resistance

Introduction
In 1928 British scientist Alexander Fleming made an accidental discovery that changed medicine forever. Fleming was growing the bacteria Staphylococcus on agar plates. Fleming noticed that some of the plates had become contaminated with common bread mold. Normally, when agar plates become contaminated, a scientist throws the plates away and starts the experiment over. But Fleming didn't throw his plates away. Instead, he looked at them carefully. Fleming noticed a curious thing: the bacteria did not grow anywhere where the mold grew. Fleming experimented with the mold further and ultimately discovered that it made a substance that killed bacteria. Fleming called this substance penicillin.

By the 1940s doctors were using penicillin to treat infections. Allied soldiers wounded in World War II were some of the first patients to receive this new drug. In a world where people died from even minor infections, penicillin and other antibiotics were considered to be miracle drugs. But just 4 years after penicillin was first used to treat infections, bacteria began to appear that resisted penicillin. Today bacteria that resist antibiotics are becoming more and more common. Where do these bacteria come from? And why are they causing scientists, doctors and health officials to rethink the way we use antibiotics?

Task
Your job in this WebQuest is to investigate the growing problem of antibiotic resistance. You will learn about antibiotics and how they kill bacteria. You will discover how bacteria become resistant to antibiotics. You will learn how the way doctors and patients use antibiotics is contributing to the problem. You will learn what health officials are doing to try to curb the threat of antibiotic resistance. You will learn what you should do to use antibiotics effectively. Finally, you will create a campaign to educate students in your school about this growing problem.

Resources
Look at the Web sites given here to find the information that will enable you to create a health-education campaign for your school.

http://people.ku.edu/~jbrown/antibiotic.html

Go to this Web site to learn all about antibiotics.

http://www.microbeworld.org/htm/cissues/resist/resist_1.htm

Visit this site to read about the use of antibiotics in medicine. Read why resistant bacteria are a looming threat.

http://www.austincc.edu/microbugz/48antibio.html

Go to this site for an explanation of how scientists test bacteria for sensitivity or resistance to antibiotics. See photos of bacteria growing on agar plates containing antibiotics.

http://www.cellsalive.com/pen.htm

Go to this site to see a movie of bacteria bursting in the presence of penicillin.

http://whyfiles.org/038badbugs/

Go to this site from the University of Wisconsin to read several articles on antibiotic resistance. Read about the growing problem of antibiotic resistance. Learn how gene transfer may be enabling microbes to mutate faster. Read about solutions to the problem of antibiotic resistance.

http://www.abc.net.au/science/slab/antibiotics/resistance.htm

Go to this site to learn how bacteria develop resistance and how the resistance spreads.

http://www.fda.gov/fdac/features/795_antibio.html

Visit this Food and Drug Administration Web site to read about the rise of antibiotic resistance. Read how resistance happens, and how antibiotic resistance creates a vicious cycle of more antibiotic use. Also read about solutions to the problem.

http://www.tufts.edu/med/apua/Patients/patient.html

Go to this site from the Alliance for the Prudent Use of Antibiotics to learn how and when to take antibiotics. Scroll down to read about the discovery of penicillin.

http://cspinet.org/ar/ar_tips.html

Go to this site to see a list of tips on how to safely and effectively use antibiotics.

http://www.tufts.edu/med/apua/Patients/handwashing.html

Visit this site and read about why handwashing may be the most important thing you can do to prevent infection.

http://www.microbeworld.org/htm/cissues/resist/resist_2.htm

Visit this Web site to read about the search for new antibiotics.

Time
2 class periods to conduct Internet research; 1 to 2 weeks to develop educational materials.

Process
Now that you have finished your Internet research, you will develop a health education campaign to educate students in your school about the problem of antibiotic resistance. You will develop educational materials, such as posters, brochures, and fact sheets. The materials you develop should include an explanation of antibiotics and how they work to kill bacteria. You should explain what antibiotic resistance is and how bacteria evolve to become resistant. You should explain what health officials are doing to combat the problem of antibiotic resistance. Finally you should give tips for what students, parents and teachers can do to fight the spread of antibiotic resistance.

Conclusion
In the process of completing this WebQuest, you've become informed about an important health problem. You have learned about the use of antibiotics in fighting infectious diseases. You have learned how antibiotics kill bacteria. You have learned how natural selection leads to the growth of resistant bacteria. You have learned about the public health threat posed by antibiotic resistance. You have learned what you and others can do to fight the spread of antibiotic resistance. Finally you have developed materials to educate others about this important problem. Share what you have learned with others in your family and your neighborhood. Encourage the people you know to do everything they can to use antibiotics wisely.