The authors present a short review of the origin and evolution of antibiotic resistance from the beginning of antibiotic use. Transferable resistance, i.e. spread of resistance genes by mechanisms of the transduction, conjugation or transposition, plays an important role in the process of the development of resistance in susceptible bacterial strains. Equally, chromosomally coded resistance is recently becoming relevant. Large selective pressure of the antibiotics lends mutations of genes coding antibiotic resistance. So, bacterial strains produce a large amount of enzymes, which destroy antibiotic or lose the power for penetration of the antibiotics become completely resistant also to new antibiotics.

        Key words: antibiotic resistance, transferable resistance, chromosomal resistance.