Broad-spectrum antibiotic their greater potential to disrupt a larger variety of normal human flora. After continued exposure to an antibiotic, bacteria may develop changes in their structure or function that make them resistant to the antibiotic. These resistant organisms will live, while the susceptible organisms will die, leaving the population of bacteria entirely resistant to a given antibiotics. For example, after the discovery of penicillin and its subsequent use to treat bacterial infections, bacteria were found to have begun producing an enzyme, penicillinase, which rendered the penicillin molecule inactive. In response to this newly-acquired resistance, newer penicillins were produced that could not
Antibiotic synergy level, the boosted antimicrobial potency provided by synergy allows the body to more rapidly clear infections, resulting in shorter courses of antibiotic therapy. Shorter courses of therapy in turn reduce the effects of dose-related toxicity, if applicable. Additionally, synergy aids in total bacterial eradication, more completely removing an infection than would be possible without synergy. At a higher level, synergistic effects are useful for combating resistant bacterial strains through increased potency and for stalling the spread of bacterial resistance through the total eradication of infections, preventing the evolutionary selection of resistant cells and strains. Current research on antibiotic synergy and