Given what you learned about how influenza changes over time, how could you explain the emergence of drug resistance in bacterial pathogens?

Beneficial mutations events can generate resistance to drugs

Explanation:

Bacteria can develop antibiotic resistance through mutations, as well as horizontal transference events, that allow them to reduce/eliminate the effectiveness of drugs used to treat infections. For example, penicillin-resistant strains have been identified in Staphylococcus aureus and Streptococcus pneumoniae. In general, mutations have a negative impact on the fitness of the organism; however, there are cases where mutations increase the fitness of the individual. In consequence, antibiotic resistance may occur by natural selection, where antibiotic-resistant bacteria that exhibit beneficial mutations are selected to survive and perpetuate their genetic material.