The Idea of an Essay, Volume 2

189 “The Solution to Dangerous Antibiotic-resistant Bacteria” by Ryan Marquardt Instructor’s Notes The technical nature of Ryan Marquardt’s research paper could make it difficult for the average reader to understand, but Ryan not only makes his points clear and easily accessible to a general audience, but he also makes them interesting. How is he able to able to accomplish clarity? Accessibility? And interest? Is there any point in the essay where you find yourself wishing to know more? Writers’ Biography Ryan Marquardt is a junior Molecular and Cellular Biology major from Michigan. Ryan enjoys learning and discovering new things in the realm of biology and writing about them. His hobbies include reading the classics and essays on philosophy and religion, as well as playing guitar and working outdoors. The Solution to Dangerous Antibiotic-resistant Bacteria Infectious diseases have ravaged the human race unchecked in various places and times for millennia. When people think of widespread diseases and infections that have historically plagued humanity, often their minds go to the Middle Ages, a time when sanitation and living conditions had not caught up with the mass urbanization of Western society. Bacterial sicknesses like Bubonic Plague became major crises that killed multitudes of people in certain areas. In fact, Bubonic Plague killed as many as 40 million people (Bugl). Finally, during the 1940s when antibiotics such as penicillin became widely available, infectious disease death rates declined dramatically, and such diseases have since caused no significant trouble for the developed world (Interagency Task Force onAntimicrobial Resistance 3). However, microbial diseases are not simply a danger of the past; some infections, even inmodernAmerica, have antibiotic resistant strains. These strains hold the potential for devastating populations by overcoming modern medicine. In the