Mechanism of antibiotic resistance

Bacteria resist the effects of antibiotics by using the following genetic strategies, with thousands of variations²:

• Producing destructive enzymes to neutralise antibiotics
• Modifying antimicrobial targets, by mutation, so that drugs cannot recognise them
• Removing antimicrobial agents by pumping them out from cell
• Restricting access of the antibiotic from entering the cell by limiting the number or changing the size of the openings in the cell wall
• Creating bypasses that allow bacteria to function without the enzymes targeted by antibiotics