A Research Laboratory Is Trying to Produce New Antibiotics

question 72

Multiple Choice

A research laboratory is trying to produce new antibiotics. They come up with a medication that detaches the hydrophilic heads from the phospholipids in cytoplasmic membranes. This drug

• A) would be highly toxic and completely useless for human beings and could never be used-our cells also have cytoplasmic membranes with hydrophilic head groups!
• B) would be highly toxic for human beings if taken orally, but might be useful as a topical antibiotic skin cream. The top layer of skin cells is dead anyway, so it wouldn't matter if this damaged those cells. 
• C) would be highly toxic only to bacteria, making it an excellent drug to develop and test further. Humans have a different phospholipid structure in their cytoplasmic membranes from bacteria.
• D) would generally not be toxic enough to damage Gram-negative bacteria, as their cytoplasmic membranes lie under a thick layer of peptidoglycan. However, it would be effective against Gram-positive cells.
• E) would not work against any bacteria, because they do not have a cytoplasmic membrane; however, it might be effective against helminths and viruses.

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