Material Detail

Bacteria often have the ability to exchange DNA with each other leading to antibiotic-resistant bacteria giving their DNA to other bacteria. Bacteria are much more social than previously thought. The social aspects of bacteria can be a target for curing diseases, for example, some bacteria release molecules called siderophores to soak up iron for the colony, so disrupting the cooperation can lead to an iron deficiency. Drugs that target social cooperation(anti-social drugs) are less likely to lead to resistance since this affects the colony as a whole and not just the most vulnerable members and also because the exchange of genetic information is part of what leads to the resistance spreading. This can also be applied to cancer since cancer cells are social and work together There are even some anti-social vaccines such as the tetanus vaccine which target molecules the microbes use to work together. 

This will delete the comment from the database. This operation is not reversible. Are you sure you want to do it?

Thank you for reporting a broken "Go to Material" link in MERLOT to help us maintain a collection of valuable learning materials.

If you feel this material is inappropriate for the MERLOT Collection, please click SEND REPORT, and the MERLOT Team will investigate. Thank you!

You are being taken to the material on another site. This will open a new window.

Do not show me this again