The discovery of penicillin marks an important milestone in the development of modern medical treatment. Today the growing problem of antibiotic resistant bacteria threatens our ability to treat infections and various medical conditions. The objective of this project was to obtain knowledge about how antibiotic resistance evolves and how different antibiotics affect bacteria. This was done by exposing bacteria to various types of antibiotics repeatedly in a laboratory environment and simulating a natural selection by picking the most resistant bacteria and let them form the next generation. We also tested how well the bacteria can tolerate different antibiotics. Our results concerning the bacteria’s sensitivity to different antibiotics in most cases corresponds well to former research. The experiments where bacteria were repeatedly exposed to antibiotics in some cases lead to forming of resistance in the population. The conclusion to be drawn from this result is that today´s large-scale use of antibiotics is directly related to the increase in antibiotic resistance among bacteria.
Albin Casparsson och Jonathan Björkquist
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