Article by Akhtar about the greatest invention of Alexander Fleming

What is an antibiotic?

An antibiotic is a medicine that kills bacteria. It does not affect other living things, such as humans and animals.

How do antibiotics work?

Bacteria are single-celled organisms that have different proteins to carry out their vital functions. Antibiotics target these proteins or pathways, which are unique to the bacterial systems. This prevents the bacteria from growing and multiplying, eventually killing them.

What is penicillin?

Penicillin is one of the first antibiotics discovered by Alexander Fleming in 1928. It is still one of the most widely used antibiotics today. Penicillin is produced by a fungus called Penicillium chrysogenum.

Facts about penicillin

Penicillin was discovered accidentally.
It is the most widely used antibiotic in the world.
Penicillin is usually made from fungus.
Why make other antibiotics? Why not just stick with penicillin?

There are two reasons why we need to make other antibiotics. First, not all bacteria are the same. Some bacteria are resistant to penicillin. Second, bacteria can evolve to become resistant to antibiotics. This is called antibiotic resistance.

How does antibiotic resistance happen?

Bacteria can become resistant to antibiotics in a few ways. One way is through mutation. When a bacterium mutates, it changes its DNA. This can give the bacterium a new property, such as resistance to an antibiotic.

Another way that bacteria can become resistant to antibiotics is through horizontal gene transfer. This is when bacteria share genes with each other. If a bacterium that is resistant to an antibiotic shares its genes with another bacterium, the second bacterium can become resistant to the antibiotic as well.

What can we do to prevent antibiotic resistance?

There are a few things that we can do to prevent antibiotic resistance. One is to use antibiotics only when necessary. We should also take antibiotics exactly as prescribed by our doctor. Finally, we should dispose of unused antibiotics properly.

The future of antibiotics

Antibiotic resistance is a serious problem, but there is hope. Scientists are working on new antibiotics that are resistant to bacteria. They are also working on ways to prevent bacteria from becoming resistant to antibiotics.

I hope this article was informative.