Life in the UniverseAnswer
How do astronomers find planets around other stars?
Distant worlds can reveal themselves through changes in starlight and the motion of their stars.
THE QUESTION LIBRARY LIFE IN THE UNIVERSE
How do bacteria become resistant to antibiotics?
THE SHORT ANSWER
Bacteria gain defenses through DNA changes or shared genes. Antibiotics can favor resistant survivors. Evolution has patterns, but its exact next change is uncertain.
WHERE THE EVIDENCE STANDS
How sure are we?
- Resistance genes can spread between bacteria.
- Laboratory populations can follow similar resistance routes.
- A forecast can guarantee the next new mutation.
Bacteria can resist an antibiotic through changes in their DNA or by acquiring resistance genes from other bacteria. The bacteria become resistant; the person’s body does not. Antibiotics can then favor resistant survivors.
THE LONG ANSWER
THE LONG ANSWER · ABOUT 2 MINUTES
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God Plays Dice answers big questions in plain words, with sources and one of six honest labels.
Sources & further reading
(5)
- About Antimicrobial Resistance ↗CDC (2025)Resistance mechanisms.
- How Antibiotic Resistance Moves Directly Germ to Germ ↗CDCPage 1.
- Evolutionary paths to antibiotic resistance under dynamically sustained drug selection ↗Toprak and colleagues, Nature Genetics 44:101–105 (2012)Pages 101–104.
- A predictive fitness model for influenza ↗Łuksza and Lässig, Nature 507:57–61 (2014)Abstract.
- Recommended composition of influenza virus vaccines for use in the 2027 southern hemisphere influenza season ↗WHO (September 25, 2026)Page 3.
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CONTINUE THE THREAD
Where this question leads.
Life in the UniverseAnswer
Could a planet without a star support life?
A world with no sunrise could still have internal heat. The question is whether it can keep water liquid and supply usable energy.
Life in the UniverseAnswer
How can identical twins with the same DNA turn out so different?
Identical twins develop from one fertilized egg and begin with almost the same DNA. Yet their conditions before birth, later environments and gene activity can differ. Shared DNA…