Question
2. When the antibiotic penicillin was first introduced, it was immediately erecave:
combating staphylococcus bacterial infections. After a number of years, there were
outbreaks of staphylococcal infections that did not respond to treatment with peni-
cillin, The best explanation for this' situation is that
(!) members of the original population of bacteria that ivere penicillin resistant
survived and reproduced, creating a more resistant population
(2) the bacteria that survived exposure to penicillin learned to avoid it
(3) the bacteria that caused the new outbreaks were from populations that had
never been exposed to penicillin
(4) during each generation, the bacteria modified their own DNA to increase
their ability to resist penicillin and passed this ability on to their descendants.
Answer
(1) members of the original population of bacteria that were penicillin resistant survived and reproduced, creating a more resistant population.