The following questions should be answered after reading "Antibiotic Resistance" in the March 6, 2000 issue of Chemical and Engineering News (page 41-58).

1) Describe two ways that antibiotics are used imprudently by society so as to increase the chances that antibiotic resistance will develop.

2) There is currently a push to prohibit the use of essential antibiotics in livestock unless there is a reasonable certainty that there will be no harm to human health by using that antibiotic in livestock. Why is this an issue these days?

3) Describe how each of the following new drugs or drug candidates are believed to work to kill or slow the replication of an infectious agent.

a) Oxazolidinones

b) Daptomycin

c) Anti-microbial peptides (e.g. protegrins or defensins)

4) What is the major advantage of Daptomycin?

5) Describe one new microbial target that is being investigated as a possibility for developing a new class of drugs. Include in your description why directing a drug at this target might be useful in fighting a bacterial infection.

6) Describe one microbial target that is being considered for combating bacterial resistance to some drugs. How would hitting this target give rise to a lowered incidence of resistance to some drugs?

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