Figure 2. . A diagram to show how mutations lead to antibiotics being unable to bind to their target.

(1) A wild-type bacteria. (2) Antibiotics that would bind to and destroy the target bacteria. (3) The antibiotic is able to bind to and destroy the target wild-type bacteria. (4) After mutation occurs, the binding site is altered and the antibiotic is unable to bind to the mutant bacteria and is unable to kill it. These bacteria will proliferate creating a new resistant colony.