What
are antibiotics? Antibiotics are any natural substances secreted by
one microorganism to attack other microorganisms. An antibiotic is a
chemical substance produced by microorganisms that has the capacity
to stop the growth of bacteria and even destroy bacteria and other microorganisms
. Antibiotics are chemicals that kill bacteria but not human cells.
That is why they are called magic bullets. Bacterial microorganisms
produce the antibiotics we take. Although many antibiotics are chemically
synthesized today, antibiotic substances are still being harvested from
microorganisms.
The significance of antibiotics is immeasurable considering their effectiveness
against harmful bacteria.
ALEXANDER
FLEMING AND PENICILLIN
In 1928 Alexander Fleming was examining a plate on which he was trying
to grow Staphylococci. Fleming was a disorderly bacteriologist who left
his cultures on the laboratory for weeks and had the habit of working
with the window open. He observed a contaminant, a green mould, growing
on the plate and all round the mould the colonies of Staphylococci had
dissolved:
· The mould could be producing a toxic chemical.
· The mould could be producing a digestive substance.
The mould was called Penicillium notatum.
The substance it was producing was called penicillin.
HOW
DO ANTIBIOTICS WORK?
Because bacteria are life forms, they do many chemical processes to
stay alive. They must create their structural elements, digest and assimilate
nutrients, replicate themselves as they multiply and protect themselves
from hostile elements in their environment. Antibiotics obstruct these
processes. Some can kill bacteria by interrupting a vital process; others
slow them down or stop them from multiplying until your body's immune
system can kill them. Each class of antibiotic -- penicillins, cephalosporins,
and tetracyclines -- attacks a specific bacterial process. In turn,
bacteria develop the ability to disable each class of antibiotic, usually
by producing a chemical that inactivates it.
ANTIBIOTIC
RESISTANCE
The first patient treated with penicillin was in 1941 thirteen years
after Fleming discovery. The substance was produced from a living organism
- it was hard to grow. Fleming was not a biochemist and the substance
was very hard to purify. In 1943 penicillin was tried in a British war
hospital in North Africa. It was in desperately short quantity. The
urine from patients was collected and the penicillin extracted so that
more people could be treated.
For decades, people across the Earth have conquered diseases with antibiotics.
From World War II to the everyday battle against bacterial infections
antibiotics have been used for their magic.
For years, doctors have been prescribing antibiotics as a cure for bacterial
infections. As antibiotic use has increased, so has bacterial resistance
to common antibiotics. Bacteria become antibiotic-resistant by mutating.
If bacteria become resistant to antibiotics, what can we use to stop
bacteria? Bacterial infections will be untreatable.