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Microbiology · Chapter 9

How Bacteria Resist Antibiotics

A susceptible bacterium lets the drug reach and hit its target. A resistant one fights back in one of four classic ways — destroy the drug, pump it out, change the target, or keep it out. Tap each to watch it defeat the antibiotic.

A drug meets a bacterium

Tap a mechanism to watch it stop the antibiotic.
Four resistance mechanismstap one to see it in action
Resistance is how the drug failsWhen a bacterium survives a drug that should kill it, it is using one (or several) of these four strategies. Some are intrinsic — built into the species — and some are acquired through mutation or shared genes on plasmids. Tap a mechanism to explore it.