Abstract
Bacteria resistant to antibiotics existed long before antibiotics were even a twinkle in the eye of the pharmaceutical industry. Most of the antibiotics on the market today, including penicillin, erythromycin, tetracycline and all their relatives started as byproducts of the metabolism of microorganisms in soil, on plants or in our oceans. Antibiotics are part of the never-ending competition among species for survival or dominance within an ecological niche.
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© 2010 Springer Science+Business Media B.V.
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Shlaes, D.M. (2010). Resistance. In: Antibiotics. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-90-481-9057-7_3
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-90-481-9057-7_3
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Publisher Name: Springer, Dordrecht
Print ISBN: 978-90-481-9056-0
Online ISBN: 978-90-481-9057-7
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