Darwin And Natural Selection
Darwin’s theory of evolution can be
explained like this; the environment acts
as a selective agent, weeding out
organisms less able to survive. Darwin
described natural selection as a
process in which organisms become better
adapted to their environment. The
organisms that evolved with beneficial
variations are more likely to survive
and reproduce, they pass on the favorable
genetic material. Over time, the
genetic composition of the species may become
better able to escape being
eaten or to capture prey. Do to such high demand for
antibiotics around the
world people have created their own antibiotic resistance
and became immune
to antibodies. At least half of the human use of antibiotics
in the United
States is unnecessary or inappropriate. For example, a patient
demanding
antibiotics for an illness that doesn’t require them leads to a lot
of
unneeded drugs. Either the antibiotics are not needed at all, or it’s
the
wrong dosage prescribed, or the wrong duration. More than 50 million
pounds of
antibiotics are produced in the United States every year. Forty
percent of that
total is given to animals, mostly to promote growth rather
than treat disease.
Antibiotic use is also rampant in agriculture. Drugs
are sprayed on to fruit
trees to prevent bacterial infections. The bad thing
is, is that these bugs are
developing a resistance to these drugs that once
destroyed them. We are
experiencing an alarming resurgence of common but no
longer curable infections
from bugs that developed resistance. This is by
being too much involved with
taking antibiotics for every little sickness and
all other things that would
require antibiotics. Another thing that would
pose as a problem is the way that
bacteria would evolve and adapt to our
antibiotics. Darwin’s theory can be
related to antibiotic resistance in many
ways. Through the years of using
antibiotics against bacteria, we have seen
that they usually get the job done.
But as time progresses, so do the
bacteria. As fast as we are producing the
antibodies, the bacteria are
adjusting to them faster. With all the antibiotics
that humans take in, their
bodies are becoming immune to the effects. Which is
like Darwin’s theory of
natural selection; selecting out the organisms that
cant adapt or adjust to
the environment around them.