Mechanisms of Drug Resistance

Progress of research into the problem of resistance to antibiotics is held back by lack of knowledge of the biochemical mechanisms by which these drugs act. Fortunately, it is possible to study some of the mechanisms of drug resistance, even at a biophysical or biochemical level, without necessarily knowing very much about how the drug works—just as it is possible to study (at least at a biological level) the question of how micro-organisms become resistant, without understanding the biochemical basis of the resistance mechanism itself. Research can proceed along all three lines to some extent independently, despite the fact that they are so closely interrelated. In an article as short as this must be, the subject of drug resistance can be dealt with only in the barest outline. For more detailed reviews and discussions of the subject the reader is referred to some of the more recent publications, each of which, in its own particular way, deals with the problem more comprehensively than can be attempted here (Schnitzer & Grunberg, 1957; Bryson & Szybalski, 1955; Cavalli-Sforza & Lederberg, 1953; Davies & Gale, 1953; Wolstmholme & O'Connor, 1957).