antibiotics have saved millions of lives, their efficacy is diminished over time because of antibiotic resistance. Many pathogens possess the ability to multiply and mutate rapidly in response to the presence of antibiotics, and those mutations that are the hardiest will survive, making successive generations even more resistant. To determine how these antibiotic resistant processes operate and what steps researchers have taken in response, this paper provides a review of the relevant peer-reviewed and scholarly literature, followed by a summary of the research and important findings in the conclusion.

The Evolution of Antibiotic Resistance

When it was discovered by Alexander Fleming in 1928, penicillin was widely hailed, and rightfully so, as a miracle drug. While penicillin and other antibiotics have in fact saved millions of lives over the past several decades, the tendency of many physicians to over-prescribe these medications as well as the proliferation of the use of antibiotics...
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