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| Antibiotics are used to treat [[Bacteria|bacteria]] that cause [[Infection|infection]]. The first antibiotic to be discovered was penicillin and was founded by [[Alexander Flemming|Alexander Flemming]].
| | See [[Antibiotics|Antibiotics]] |
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| === '''How was it Discovered?''' ===
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| Alexander Flemming discovered penicillin completely by accident. He was working with a strain of ''[[Staphylococcus|Staphylococcus]]'' [[Bacteria|bacteria]] and found that the petri dishes became infected with [[Fungi|fungi]]. However there was a ring around each colony where the [[Bacteria|bacteria]] had died. Flemming did some research into the [[Fungi|fungi]] and found it came from the penecillium genus which is how penicillin got its name<ref>Sadava et al. (2012). Life, the Science of Biology. 10th ed. Sunderland: Sinauer Associates Inc. 608</ref>
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| === Why do Antibiotics Work? ===
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| [[Bacteria|Bacteria]] and [[Eukaryotes|eukaryotes]] form two different kingdoms meaning that there are many differences between them. These differences can be exploited when trying to beat an [[Infection|infection]]. Drugs can directly inhibit a process in [[Bacteria|bacteria without]] causing any disruption to a similar process in the host [[Organism|organism]]. Many antibiotics target the cell wall biosynthesis as [[Eukaryotic cells|eukaryotic cells]] don’t have cell walls making it an easy target<ref>Alberts et al. (2008). Molecular Biology of the Cell. 5th ed. New York: Garland Science. 1521-1522.</ref>
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| === References ===
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| <references /><br>
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Latest revision as of 06:12, 16 October 2014