CONTROL OF MICROORGANISM BY ANTIBIOTICS
CONTROL OF MICROORGANISM BY ANTIBIOTICS
Control of microorganisms is essential in order to prevent the transmission of diseases And infection, stop decomposition and spoilage, and prevent unwanted microbial contamination. Microorganisms are controlled by means of physical agents and chemical agents. Physical agents include such methods of control as high or low temperature, desiccation, osmotic pressure, radiation, and filtration. Control by chemical agents refers to the use of disinfectants, antiseptics, antibiotics, and
chemotherapeutic antimicrobial chemicals.
ANTIBIOTICS
The first antibiotic was discovered, quite by accident, by bacteriologist named
Alexander Fleming in 1928. Alexander Fleming had been studying bacteria using
Petri dishes, and left some unwashed Petri dishes piled high in a sink with Lysol.
Some of the dishes were submerged in the Lysol disinfectant and some were not,
because they were located high on top of the dish pile.
When Alexander Fleming returned from his vacation, he noticed that mold had
grown in some of the Petri dishes that were not submerged in the disinfectant. He
then noticed that in the Petri dishes that contained both mold and bacteria, the mold was killing the bacteria!
Alexander Fleming soon identified the mold to be the fungus Penicillium, which
was later made available in the form of penicillin for medical use. Feel free to use this story to get out of doing the dishes.
Any substance that inhibits the growth and replication of a bacterium or kills it
outright can be called an antibiotic. Antibiotics are a type of antimicrobial designed
to target bacterial infections within (or on) the body. This makes antibiotics subtly
different from the other main kinds of antimicrobials widely used today:
Antiseptics are used to sterilise surfaces of living tissue when the risk of
infection is high, such as during surgery.
Disinfectants are non-selective antimicrobials, killing a wide range of micro-
organisms including bacteria. They are used on non-living surfaces, for
example in hospitals.
Of course, bacteria are not the only microbes that can be harmful to us. Fungi and
viruses can also be a danger to humans, and they are targeted by antifungals and
antivirals, respectively. Only substances that target bacteria are called antibiotics,while the name antimicrobial is an umbrella term for anything that inhibits or kills
microbial cells including antibiotics, antifungals, antivirals and chemicals such as
antiseptics.
Most antibiotics used today are produced in laboratories, but they are often based on
compounds scientists have found in nature. Some microbes, for example, produce
substances specifically to kill other nearby bacteria in order to gain an advantage
when competing for food, water or other limited resources. However, some microbes
only produce antibiotics in the laboratory
How do antibiotics work?
Antibiotics are used to treat bacterial infections. Some are highly specialized and are
only effective against certain bacteria. Others, known as broad-spectrum antibiotics,
attack a wide range of bacteria, including ones that are beneficial to us.
There are two main ways in which antibiotics target bacteria. They either prevent the
reproduction of bacteria, or they kill the bacteria, for example by stopping the
mechanism responsible for building their cell walls.
Why are antibiotics important?
The introduction of antibiotics into medicine revolutionized the way infectious
diseases were treated. Between 1945 and 1972, average human life expectancy
jumped by eight years, with antibiotics used to treat infections that were previously
likely to kill patients. Today, antibiotics are one of the most common classes of drugs
used in medicine and make possible many of the complex surgeries that have become
routine around the world.
If we ran out of effective antibiotics, modern medicine would be set back by decades.
Relatively minor surgeries, such as appendectomies, could become life threatening,
as they were before antibiotics became widely available. Antibiotics are sometimes
used in a limited numbers of patients before surgery to ensure that patients do not contract any infections from bacteria entering open cuts. Without this precaution, the risk of blood poisoning would become much higher, and many of the more complex surgeries doctors now perform may not be possible.
Antibiotics are simply defined as any drug that either kills or inhibits the
growth (or reproduction) of one or more species of bacteria. Since the discovery of penicillin, many more antibiotics have been discovered andmanufactured. These have a wide range of bacterial targets and are able to combat bacterial growth through different means or "mechanisms of action".
Control of microorganisms is essential in order to prevent the transmission of diseases And infection, stop decomposition and spoilage, and prevent unwanted microbial contamination. Microorganisms are controlled by means of physical agents and chemical agents. Physical agents include such methods of control as high or low temperature, desiccation, osmotic pressure, radiation, and filtration. Control by chemical agents refers to the use of disinfectants, antiseptics, antibiotics, and
chemotherapeutic antimicrobial chemicals.
The first antibiotic was discovered, quite by accident, by bacteriologist named
Alexander Fleming in 1928. Alexander Fleming had been studying bacteria using
Petri dishes, and left some unwashed Petri dishes piled high in a sink with Lysol.
Some of the dishes were submerged in the Lysol disinfectant and some were not,
because they were located high on top of the dish pile.
When Alexander Fleming returned from his vacation, he noticed that mold had
grown in some of the Petri dishes that were not submerged in the disinfectant. He
then noticed that in the Petri dishes that contained both mold and bacteria, the mold was killing the bacteria!
Alexander Fleming soon identified the mold to be the fungus Penicillium, which
was later made available in the form of penicillin for medical use. Feel free to use this story to get out of doing the dishes.
Any substance that inhibits the growth and replication of a bacterium or kills it
outright can be called an antibiotic. Antibiotics are a type of antimicrobial designed
to target bacterial infections within (or on) the body. This makes antibiotics subtly
different from the other main kinds of antimicrobials widely used today:
Antiseptics are used to sterilise surfaces of living tissue when the risk of
infection is high, such as during surgery.
Disinfectants are non-selective antimicrobials, killing a wide range of micro-
organisms including bacteria. They are used on non-living surfaces, for
example in hospitals.
Of course, bacteria are not the only microbes that can be harmful to us. Fungi and
viruses can also be a danger to humans, and they are targeted by antifungals and
antivirals, respectively. Only substances that target bacteria are called antibiotics,while the name antimicrobial is an umbrella term for anything that inhibits or kills
microbial cells including antibiotics, antifungals, antivirals and chemicals such as
antiseptics.
Most antibiotics used today are produced in laboratories, but they are often based on
compounds scientists have found in nature. Some microbes, for example, produce
substances specifically to kill other nearby bacteria in order to gain an advantage
when competing for food, water or other limited resources. However, some microbes
only produce antibiotics in the laboratory
How do antibiotics work?
Antibiotics are used to treat bacterial infections. Some are highly specialized and are
only effective against certain bacteria. Others, known as broad-spectrum antibiotics,
attack a wide range of bacteria, including ones that are beneficial to us.
There are two main ways in which antibiotics target bacteria. They either prevent the
reproduction of bacteria, or they kill the bacteria, for example by stopping the
mechanism responsible for building their cell walls.
Why are antibiotics important?
The introduction of antibiotics into medicine revolutionized the way infectious
diseases were treated. Between 1945 and 1972, average human life expectancy
jumped by eight years, with antibiotics used to treat infections that were previously
likely to kill patients. Today, antibiotics are one of the most common classes of drugs
used in medicine and make possible many of the complex surgeries that have become
routine around the world.
If we ran out of effective antibiotics, modern medicine would be set back by decades.
Relatively minor surgeries, such as appendectomies, could become life threatening,
as they were before antibiotics became widely available. Antibiotics are sometimes
used in a limited numbers of patients before surgery to ensure that patients do not contract any infections from bacteria entering open cuts. Without this precaution, the risk of blood poisoning would become much higher, and many of the more complex surgeries doctors now perform may not be possible.
Antibiotics are simply defined as any drug that either kills or inhibits the
growth (or reproduction) of one or more species of bacteria. Since the discovery of penicillin, many more antibiotics have been discovered andmanufactured. These have a wide range of bacterial targets and are able to combat bacterial growth through different means or "mechanisms of action".
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