You will apply what you have learned about genetics, evolution, and even a bit of cell biology to the problem of antibiotic-resistant bacteria. The PDF posted on Titanium contains the following article (this is the correct citation):

Voss, G. 2014. “What if Antibiotics Stopped Working?” Women’s Health Magazine.Retrieved from: https://allaplusessays.com/order.

For the writing assignment, you need to form an opinion, develop a logical argument, and support your argument with evidence from the required article, your class slides & notes, and your textbook (chapter 13, sections 16-19 for viruses, chapter 10 and section 15 for horizontal gene transfer; “vertical gene transfer” is what we learned in genetics—parents passing genes on to offspring) based on the following two points. You do not need to look beyond the article and your textbook/class notes!

Summarize the biology in the article (i.e. you can skip summarizing the part of the article about the unfortunate woman with the resistant UTI). In your summary, use your textbook to help you further explain the two ways that bacteria can pass resistance alleles between one another—biologists would call one way of transferring alleles as “vertical gene transfer” and the second way, “horizontal gene transfer.” The article states many ideas that we can use in our everyday lives to reduce the chances of creating more antibiotic-resistant bacteria. One of them mentioned was getting antibiotics when sick “just in case” the illness is caused by a bacterial infection. What do you think: If you or a loved one is sick with a viral infection, should you ask for antibiotics from your doctor/healthcare professional? Explain why or why not.

• Your paper should be 300-350 words maximum, including your references. Be concise in your writing. Have someone proofread your paper to ensure what you are writing is clear and free of formatting and grammatical errors. If writing is not your strong suite, visit the writing center for additional help. There is a link at the top of Titanium should you wish to utilize this option.
• Be sure you cite your sources (including the provided article) both in-text and with a reference page using APA format. You do not need a title page nor do you need an abstract. Be sure to cite even when paraphrasing. Failure to cite your sources (either in-text or with a reference page) will be considered academic dishonesty, which will result in a 0 for this assignment as well as a report being filed with the University.
• Your paper should be double spaced, 12pt font, using either Times New Roman or Arial font with 1’ margins. You do not need page numbers. You should include your first and last name and section number at the top of the page.
• Give your paper a concise title of no more than 5 words. At the top of your paper you simply need your first and last name along with your section number. You do not need my name, the university’s name or the date. All of this should total no more than 10 words (which you can add to your 350 words if you need to, bringing you total up to 360).
• You are REQUIREDto turn in a digital copy only to turnitin.com (the link can be found on our Titanium page). Failure to turn in a digital copy through turnitin.com will result in a 0 for this assignment. HARD COPIES AND EMAILED SUBMISSIONS WILL NOT BE ACCEPTED! The rubric that will be used to grade the writing assignment is posted on Titanium. Use this to help you make sure you have included all required information.

Helpful hints: “Bacteria” is a plural word. “Bacterium” is the singular version of that word.