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Superbugs are strains of bacteria which are resistant to antibiotics.

Biology - Superbugs (AQA)

Discover how antibiotic resistance creates "superbugs", why overusing medicines is dangerous, and what science and society can do to keep life-saving drugs working.

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Fascinating Fact:

Future fighters include rapid diagnostics, phage therapy, and monoclonal antibodies to target pathogens precisely.

In GCSE Science (Biology, AQA), you explore how bacteria can evolve resistance to antibiotics. These resistant strains are often called superbugs and make infections harder and more expensive to treat.

Key Terms

Superbug: A strain of microorganism that is difficult to treat because it is resistant to several antibiotics.
Antibiotic: A medicine used to kill bacteria or stop them growing and reproducing.
Mutation: A change in DNA that can create new traits, such as resistance to an antibiotic.

Frequently Asked Questions (Click to see answers)

What are superbugs in GCSE Biology?

In GCSE Biology, superbugs are bacteria that have become resistant to one or more antibiotics, often through mutation and natural selection, making infections harder to control.

How does antibiotic resistance develop in bacteria?

Antibiotic resistance develops when random mutations give some bacteria an advantage. When antibiotics are used, resistant bacteria survive, reproduce, and pass on their resistance genes.

How can we reduce the spread of antibiotic-resistant bacteria?

We can reduce resistance by using antibiotics only when prescribed, completing the full course, practising good hygiene, and supporting infection control and vaccination programmes.

Try These Related Quizzes

1 .

What are antibiotics?

Chemicals that destroy viruses

Chemicals that prevent bacteria from growing or kill them

Hormones that are found naturally in white blood cells

Hormones secreted by white blood cells that stick to antigens

An easy start! Antibiotics are usually specific to certain groups of bacteria

2 .

What is a resistant bacteria?

One that can resist being squashed

One that is not affected by acids

One that is not affected by antibiotics

One that can resist an attack by a bacteriophage virus

The usual example is MRSA

3 .

MRSA is the abbreviation for which of the following?

Methicillin resistant staphylococcus aureus

Microbiologically resistant staphylococcus aureus

Multi resistant staphylococcus aurelius

Microbiologically resistant streptococcus aurelius

MRSA is resistant to the penicillin family of antibiotics (and some others too)

4 .

How do these resistant strains of bacteria arise?

Natural selection

Artificial selection

Selective breeding

Non-selective breeding

Natural selection ensures that only the resistant or most resistant bacteria survive a course of treatment

5 .

What is the least probable outcome when a resistant strain of bacteria develops?

Some diseases could become very difficult to control

The bacteria will grow larger

New types of antibiotic will need to be developed

An epidemic

Resistance in bacteria is nothing to do with how big they are

6 .

What part of the bacteria controls resistance?

Chromosomes

Nucleus

Cytoplasm

Genes

You may have been tempted by the answer chromosomes. Chromosomes are made from genes and certain genes can give a bacteria resistance to certain antibiotics

7 .

Why should you always complete a course of antibiotics?

So that you don't waste the money spent on your prescription

It is illegal not to finish the whole course

It avoids wasting the antibiotics

It kills off the maximum number of bacteria

The antibiotic kills off the least resistant bacteria first and you start to feel well again. If you don't complete the course, the most resistant bacteria could survive. If they escape from your body and infect other people who do the same as you, a completely resistant strain could develop

8 .

Resistance to antibiotics is genetic. Why is this a problem?

Resistance can be passed on to future generations of bacteria

It means that resistant bacteria genes could become part of your genes

You might become immune to the antibiotic

It makes bacteria grow faster

Resistant bacteria will survive a course of antibiotic and therefore be able to reproduce with less competition. As future generations of bacteria inherit this resistance, diseases become more difficult to control

9 .

What are doctors doing to slow down the development of resistant bacteria?

Prescribing more antibiotics

Prescribing longer courses of antibiotics

Prescribing fewer antibiotics

Not prescribing antibiotics

Doctors no longer prescribe antibiotics for minor infections. When your own immune system deals with the bacteria, it does not rely on antibiotics, so both resistant and non-resistant bacteria are destroyed

10 .

Which of the following answers contain the missing words in the correct order?

_________ are one cause of variation in a population of bacteria. A course of ____________ will kill off the non-resistant bacteria leaving ____________ bacteria to multiply. If these escape from the patient it is possible they can _______ others with bacteria that are not killed by antibiotics.

Genes, antibodies, resistant, enter.

Antigens, antibiotics, resistant, infect.

Zygotes, cytoplasm, superbug, do

Mutations, antibiotics, resistant, infect.

Exam and test tip: Were you one of the ones who worked out all 4 words first? Hat's off, you are a high flyer! But you don't really need to get all of the missing words. You can narrow it down to two answers by considering just the first word. So when answering questions, especially multiple choice, use techniques like this to make them seem less daunting

You can find more about this topic by visiting BBC Bitesize - Infection and response

Author: Kev Woodward (PGCE, Science & Chemistry Teacher, Quiz Writer)