Tuesday, October 13, 2009

Why is it easier to use drugs to cure bacterial diseases than those caused by fungi/protists/animal parasites?


Answer:
Bacteria are prokaryotes, while fungi/protists/animal parasites are eukaryotes.Humans are also eukaryotes.Thus, bacteria are different from all of the rest. It is easier to make drugs to target this difference and in a way not affect the stuff that eukaryotes have.When you make drugs against fungi/protists/animal parasites, you target stuff that all eukaryotes, including humans, have in common. Therefore, humans can get more side effects from these medications since they are also eukaryotes.
I'm not sure if it is any easier or harder. there are plenty of good drugs for most of the bigger bugs, and some bacteria are becoming more and more difficult to treat. but, i suppose that we have more options against bacteria because humans have more genetic similarity to fungi/protozoa/helminths. differences between us and them could potentially be used as an antibiotic strategy.

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