Your Research Paper assignment is a 1200 to 2000 word (not counting your bibliography) informative research paper on a topic of your choosing, as long as it pertains to biological/physical...

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Title: Evolutionary Theory of Antibiotic resistance: human and pathogen co-evolution

TOPIC CHOSEN: Biological Anthropology
Evolutionary Theory of Antibiotic resistance: human and pathogen co-evolution
Introduction
    When we think of mass death the first notion that comes to our mind is war, yet even Bill Gates in his TedTalk agrees that it is not a war that humans have the most threat from, but the invasion of microbes. One might argue that the advances of medical science has of course reduced the potential of these dangerous pathogens to harm human beings, yet in a drastic change of event these pathogens have acquired a shield against out biggest fighters: the Antibiotics. Popularly known as the Red Queen Hypothesis, the host pathogen interaction of microbes in the human hosts’ body is a classic example of co evolution in Biological anthropology. In this essay, we will try to explain the concepts of the nature of antibiotic resistance, along with why such change is necessary for survival.
The Battle of Arms
    Antibiotic resistance has occurred in bacteria as a part of evolutionary mechanism of Natural selection. It confers the ability to a microorganism to neutralize effectively the activity of an antibiotic or to destroy the antibiotic itself. Once a bacterium mutates its genome into such resistant genome, it can successfully then transfer this genetic information contained within its plasmid to its progenies via horizontal DNA transfer mechanism without getting neutralized by the antibodies present in the host’s body as a part of its immunity system (Davies & Davies). If a bacteria manages to acquires several such resistance genes within its system, it is a multi-resistant microbe or commonly known as a “superbug”. All this is a direct consequence of environmental pressure as a natural evolution. As humans are advancing their arms and ammunitions against such microbes, the bacteria’s are also mutating their genotype to fight against their potential destroyers. Evolution suggests that in the battle of survival, the organism with the highest fitness will survive. In other words, if human or bacteria fail to evolve with the natural environmental; pressure, they will eventually perish from the Earth. In an outstanding survival strategy, both the organisms are evolving constantly against the selection pressure (Broom, Broom & Kirby).
    Antibiotic resistance in bacteria is mainly found among people that have a higher intake of prescription medicine, such as intake of broad spectrum antibiotic along with their 2nd or 3rd generations like cephalosporin have been shown to confer methicilin resistance in the bacteria (Bottery, Wood & Brockhurst). So, the more...