Antibiotics are substances that inhibit the growth of or destroy bacteria that cause infection.

Antibiotics do not work against viral diseases such as the common cold or influenza. The word "antibiotics" comes from the Greek anti("against") and bios("life"). Antibiotics have been used since the 1930s to prevent or treat a wide variety of infections in plants, animals, and humans. Before that time, there were few effective ways of combating microbial infections (infections caused by microorganisms). Illnesses such as pneumonia, tuberculosis, and typhoid fever were essentially untreatable The years between 1928 and 1940 were the most productive in the discovery and development of antimicrobial drugs. In 1928 Sir Alexander Fleming, a Scottish physician, was working on ways to kill bacteria isolated from infected wounds. He observed that a mold growing in a laboratory culture was able to destroy that culture's bacteria. Since the mold that produced the bacteria-killingsubstance was a species of Penicillium, Fleming named the substance penicillin. 1935 Prontosil, the first sulfa drug, was discovered in 1935 by German chemist Gerhard Domagk (18951964). 1942 The manufacturing process for Penicillin G Procaine was invented by Howard Florey (18981968) and Ernst Chain (19061979). Penicillin could now be sold as a drug. Fleming, Florey, and Chain shared the 1945 Nobel Prize for medicine for their work on penicillin. 1943 In 1943, American microbiologist Selman Waksman (18881973) made the drug streptomycin from soil bacteria, the first of a new class of drugs called aminoglycosides. Streptomycin could treat diseases like tuberculosis, however, the side effects were often too How Antibiotics Are Made The overwhelming majority of antibiotics are made from living organisms such as bacteria about 90% of antibiotics are isolated from bacteria fungi, and molds. Others are produced synthetically, either in whole or in part. At one time all antibiotics were made from living organisms. This process, known as biosynthesis, is still used in the manufacture of a number of antibiotics. In this method, it is actually the organisms themselves that manufacture the antibiotic. The laboratory technician merely provides favorable conditions for the organisms to multiply, and then extracts the drug. Starting the culture Before fermentation can begin, the desired antibiotic-producing organism must be isolated and its numbers must be increased by many times. To do this, a starter culture from a sample of previously isolated, cold-stored organisms is created in the lab. In order to grow the initial culture, a sample of the organism is transferred to an agar-containing plate. The initial culture is then put into shake flasks along with food and other nutrients

necessary for growth. This creates a suspension, which can be transferred to seed tanks for further growth. The seed tanks are steel tanks designed to provide an ideal environment for growing microorganisms. They are filled with the all the things the specific microorganism would need to survive and thrive. The seed tanks are equipped with mixers, which keep the growth medium moving, and a pump to deliver sterilized, filtered air. After about 24-28 hours, the material in the seed tanks is transferred to the primary fermentation tanks. Fermentation The fermentation tank is essentially a larger version of the steel, seed tank, which is able to hold about 30,000 gallons. It is filled with the same growth media found in the seed tank and also provides an environment inducive to growth. Here the microorganisms are allowed to grow and multiply. During this process, they excrete large quantities of the desired antibiotic. The tanks are cooled to keep the temperature between 73-81 F (23-27.2 C). It is constantly agitated, and a continuous stream of sterilized air is pumped into it. For this reason, anti-foaming agents are periodically added. Since pH control is vital for optimal growth, acids or bases are added to the tank as necessary. Isolation and purification After three to five days, the maximum amount of antibiotic will have been produced and the isolation process can begin. Depending on the specific antibiotic produced, the fermentation broth is processed by various purification methods. At the end of this step, the manufacturer is typically left with a purified powdered form of the antibiotic, which can be further refined into different product types. Refining Antibiotic products can take on many different forms. Depending on the final form of the antibiotic, various refining steps may be taken after the initial isolation. From this point, the antibiotic product is transported to the final packaging stations. Here, the products are stacked and put in boxes. They are loaded up on trucks and transported to various distributors, hospitals, and pharmacies. The entire process of fermentation, recovery, and processing can take anywhere from five to eight days. Quality Control Quality control is of utmost importance in the production of antibiotics. Since it involves a fermentation process, steps must be taken to ensure that absolutely no contamination is introduced at any point during production. To this end, the medium and all of the processing equipment are thoroughly steam sterilized. During manufacturing, the quality of all the compounds is checked on a regular basis. Of particular importance are frequent checks of the condition of the microorganism culture during fermentation. These are accomplished using various chromatography techniques. Also, various physical and chemical properties of the finished product are checked such as pH, melting point, and moisture content. How Antibiotics Work Antibiotics that inhibit protein synthesis work because of the fact that the bacterial ribosome and the eucaryotic ribosome differ structurally. Consequently, there are some chemicals that can inhibit bacterial translation but not eucaryote translation. Thus antibiotics that inhibit protein synthesis are potentially toxic to humans (note: there are also other damaging effects). Preventing protein synthesis does not necessarily kill the bacteria, it prevents growth.

INHIBITION OF NUCLEIC ACID SYNTHESIS Differences between the enzymes used to synthesize nucleic acids in prokaryotes and eukaryotes provide the means for selective action of antibiotics that take their effect by inhibiting nucleic acid synthesis. Antibiotics of the rifamycin family inhibit RNA synthesis because they bind to RNA polymerase, which is responsible for transcribing bacterial DNA to RNA(1). Antibiotics of the quinolone group interfere with DNA gyrase, the enzyme responsible for unwinding DNA in preparation of replication(2). INHIBITION OF SYNTHESIS OF ESSENTIAL METABOLITES An antimetabolite is a substance that prevents a cell from carrying out a metabolic reaction. Antimetabolites function in two ways: 1)by competitive inhibition of enzymes, and 2)by erroneous incorporation into nucleic acids. 1- Penicillin (or other cell wall synthesis inhibitor) is added to the growth medium with a dividing bacterium. 2The cell begins to grow, but is unable to synthesize new cell wall to accommodate the expanding cell. 3- As cellular growth continues, cytoplasm covered by plasma membrane begins to squeeze out through the gap(s) in the cell wall. 4- Cell wall integrity is further violated. The cell continues to increase in size, but is unable to "pinch off" the extra cytoplasmic material into two daughter cells because the formation of a division furrow depends on the ability to synthesize new cell wall. 5- The cell wall is shed entirely, forming a spheroplast, which is extremely vulnerable relative to the original cell. The loss of the cell wall also causes the cell to lose control over its shape, so even if the original bacterium were rodshaped, the sphereoplast is generally spherical. Finally, the fact that the cell has now doubled much of its genetic and metabolic material further disrupts homeostasis, which usually leads to the cell's death. Side Effects Allergic reactions to antibiotics are usually observed as skin rashes, but severe anemia (too few red blood cells), stomach disorders, and deafness can occasionally result. It was once thought that allergic reactions to antibiotics penicillin in particular were frequent and permanent. Antibiotic Resistance When an individual takes an antibiotic for a long period of time, such as for an illness like rheumatic fever, the targeted bacteria may develop their own defense against the drug. An enzyme (a complex protein capable of inducing chemical changes without being changed itself) that can destroy the drug may be produced by the bacteria, or the cell wall may become resistant tobeing broken by the action of the antibiotic