UNIT 4: Evolution

Textbook Article

Drug-Resistant Bacteria — A Global Health Issue

Updated June 3, 2010 — A bicyclist falls, scrapes his knees, and within a few days is unable to walk. Soccer players with turf burns suddenly find themselves in the hospital with skin infections that require intravenous antibiotics. Why are these young, healthy athletes developing such serious infections?

January 26, 2009Are Antibiotics For Everything?

Do you think all kinds of sicknesses can be treated with antibiotics? Some patients do – and they’re wrong! Sicknesses such as the common cold and the flu are both viral diseases. Antibiotics do not kill viruses or treat the...

December 18, 2007Rise of the Superbug

On October 15, 2007, a 17-year-old senior at Staunton River High School in Virginia lost his brief battle with the “superbug” bacterium known as methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA). Ashton Bonds was admitted to the hospital a week earlier after first...

September 24, 2007Could a Dog Bite Lead to an Antibiotic-Resistant Infection?

Antibiotic-resistant infections are no longer just found in hospital patients. These infections are increasing in the general population. Environmental factors seem to contribute to the increase in infections and pets may be to blame.

September 24, 2007Bacterium Evolves Stealth Strategy Against Tomatoes

Suppose a species has one defense against bacterial infection, then the bacteria evolve to get around the defense. The host species will succumb to infection until another defense evolves to stop the attack. This is known as an evolutionary arms race. Find out how bacteria now have the upper hand on tomato plants.