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| Question | Answer |
| What are antibiotics? | Antibiotics are chemicals that kill or inhibit the growth of bacteria. They are used to treat bacterial infections |
| What is the first antibiotic to be isolated? | Penicillin (by Alexander Fleming, in 1928) |
| How does antibiotic resistance come about? | 1. There is genetic variation in a population of bacteria 2. Genetic mutations make some bacteria naturally resistant to an antibiotic 3. The bacteria with this resistance live for longer and reproduce, leading to the allele for antibiotic resistance being passed on to lots of offspring This is an example of natural selection |
| Complete the sentences: Increased use of ____________ means that antibiotic resistance is ___________. 'Superbugs' that are resistant to most known antibiotics are becoming more _______. | Increased use of ANTIBIOTICS means that antibiotic resistance is INCREASING. 'Superbugs' that are resistant to most known antibiotics are becoming more COMMON. |
| Name two types of antibiotic resistance | MRSA Clostridium difficile |
| What is MRSA? | Meticillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus Causes serious wound infections Resistant to several antibiotics, including meticillin (used to be called methicillin) |
| What is clostridium difficile? | Infects the digestive system, usually causing problems in people who have already been treated with antibiotics Thought that the harmless bacteria that are normally present in the digestive system are killed by the antibiotics, which C. difficile is resistant to, allowing C. difficile to flourish Produces a toxin, which causes severe diarrhoea, fever and cramps |
| What are the methods of preventing antibiotic resistance? | Developing new antibiotics and modifying existing ones (not easy) Doctors are encouraged to reduce use of antibiotics (e.g. not to prescribe them for minor infections and to prevent infections, except in patients with already weak immune systems like the elderly or people with HIV) Patients are advised to take all the antibiotics they are prescribed to make sure the infection is fully cleared and all the bacteria have been killed |
| Complete the sentence: Many medicinal drugs are manufactured using natural compounds found in ________, ___________ or _____________ | Many medicinal drugs are manufactured using natural compounds found in PLANTS, ANIMALS or MICROORGANISMS |
| From what is penicillin obtained? | From a fungus |
| From what are some cancer drugs made? | Made using soil bacteria |
| From what is a drug used to treat Alzheimer's disease produced? | Daffodils are grown to produce it |
| Why is it important to maintain biodiversity on Earth, in terms of medicine? | Possible sources of drugs need to be protected Even organisms that have already been studied could still prove to be useful sources of medicine as new techniques are developed for identifying, purifying and testing compounds |
| What is personalised medicine? | Personalised medicines are medicines that are tailored to an individual's DNA |
| How does/would personalised medicine work? | The theory is that if doctors have your genetic information, they can use it to predict how you will respond to different drugs and only prescribe ones that will be most effective for you. Scientists hope that by studying the relationship of someone's genetic make-up and their responsiveness to drugs, more effective drugs can be produced in the future |
| What is synthetic biology? | Synthetic biology involves using technology to design and make things like artificial proteins, cells and even microorganisms. |
| What is the use of synthetic biology? | It has applications in lots of different areas, including medicine E.g. scientists are looking at engineering bacteria to destroy cancer cells, while leaving healthy body cells intact |
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