Antibiotic
hideIn common usage, an antibiotic (from the Ancient Greek: ἀντί – anti, "against", and βίος – bios, "life") is a substance or compound that kills bacteria or inhibits their growth. Antibiotics belong to the broader group of antimicrobial compounds, used to treat infections caused by microorganisms, including fungi and protozoa.
The term "antibiotic" was coined by Selman Waksman in 1942 to describe any substance produced by a microorganism that is antagonistic to the growth of other microorganisms in high dilution. This original definition excluded naturally occurring substances that kill bacteria but are not produced by microorganisms (such as gastric juice and hydrogen peroxide) and also excluded synthetic antibacterial compounds such as the sulfonamides. Many antibiotics are relatively small molecules with a molecular weight less than 2000 Da.[citations needed]
With advances in medicinal chemistry, most antibiotics are now semisynthetic—modified chemically from original compounds found in nature, as is the case with beta-lactams (which include the penicillins, produced by fungi in the genus Penicillium, the cephalosporins, and the carbapenems). Some antibiotics are still produced and isolated from living organisms, such as the aminoglycosides, and others have been created through purely synthetic means: the sulfonamides, the quinolones, and the oxazolidinones. In addition to this origin-based classification into natural, semisynthetic, and synthetic, antibiotics may be divided into two broad groups according to their effect on microorganisms: those that kill bacteria are bactericidal agents, while those that only impair bacterial growth are known as bacteriostatic agents.
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News tagged with antibiotics
Groundbreaking discovery may lead to stronger antibiotics
Biology /
Oct 01, 2008 |
4.4 / 5 (16) |
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The last decade has seen a dramatic decline in the effectiveness of antibiotics, resulting in a mounting public health crisis across the world. A new breakthrough by University of Virginia researchers provides physicians ...
Nanotechnology boosts war on superbugs
Nanotechnology / Bio & Medicine
Oct 12, 2008 |
4.4 / 5 (13) |
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This week Nature Nanotechnology journal (October 12th) reveals how scientists from the London Centre for Nanotechnology (LCN) at UCL are using a novel nanomechanical approach to investigate the workings of vancomycin, one of ...
Researchers find new chemical key that could unlock hundreds of new antibiotics
Oct 29, 2008 |
4.9 / 5 (11) |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- Chemistry researchers at The University of Warwick and the John Innes Centre, have found a novel signalling molecule that could be a key that will open up hundreds of new antibiotics unlocking them from the ...
Taking the Resistance Out of Drug-Resistant Infections
Apr 10, 2009 |
5 / 5 (9) |
1
(PhysOrg.com) -- It started out as a research project focused on getting rid of harmful bacterial accumulations called biofilms. Now it has the potential to make conventional antibiotics work against stubborn, drug-resistant ...
Researchers find new path to antibiotics in dirt
Biology /
Nov 07, 2008 |
4.9 / 5 (8) |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- A teaspoon of dirt contains an estimated 10,000 species of bacteria, but it’s only one percent of these microbial bugs — the ones that can be grown easily in a lab — that have brought us antibiotics, anticancer ...
We are facing a global pandemic of antibiotic resistance, warn experts
Sep 19, 2008 |
4.8 / 5 (8) |
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Vital components of modern medicine such as major surgery, organ transplantation, and cancer chemotherapy will be threatened if antibiotic resistance is not tackled urgently, warn experts on bmj.com today.
Scientists explore new window on the origins of life
Biology /
Feb 12, 2009 |
4 / 5 (9) |
3
(PhysOrg.com) -- The remarkable behaviour of bacteria that have been forced to live without their protective wall has allowed Newcastle University scientists to open a new window on the origins of life on earth.
Unexpected discovery can open a new chapter in the fight against tuberculosis
Jun 08, 2009 |
4.4 / 5 (8) |
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A close relative of the microorganism that causes tuberculosis in humans has been found to form spores. This is a sensational finding because researchers have long been convinced that these kinds of bacteria-the mycobacteria-were ...
Einstein researchers develop novel antibiotics that don't trigger resistance
Mar 13, 2009 |
5 / 5 (6) |
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Bacterial resistance to antibiotics is one of medicine's most vexing challenges. In a study described in Nature Chemical Biology, researchers from Albert Einstein College of Medicine of Yeshiva University are de ...
Newly discovered reactions from an old drug may lead to new antibiotics
Jun 01, 2009 |
4.3 / 5 (7) |
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A mineral found at health food stores could be the key to developing a new line of antibiotics for bacteria that commonly cause diarrhea, tooth decay and, in some severe cases, death.
Scientists learn why some drugs pack such a punch
Aug 20, 2009 |
4.8 / 5 (6) |
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By studying the intricate mechanisms at work in protein production, a Princeton-led team has discovered why certain kinds of antibiotics are so effective. In doing so, they also have discovered how one protein ...
New class of antibiotics may lead to therapy for drug-resistant tuberculosis
Oct 16, 2008 |
4.8 / 5 (5) |
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A team of Rutgers University scientists led by Richard H. Ebright and Eddy Arnold has identified a new antibiotic target and a new antibiotic mechanism that may enable the development of broad-spectrum antibacterial agents ...
Researchers discover a new antibacterial lead
Sep 27, 2009 |
3.8 / 5 (6) |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- Antibiotic resistance has been a significant problem for hospitals and health-care facilities for more than a decade. But despite the need for new treatment options, there have been only two ...
Who gets the antibiotics?
Sep 20, 2009 |
4.2 / 5 (5) |
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At Temple University School of Medicine in Philadelphia, a medical resident and avid bike rider in his late 20s noticed a nasty red swelling in his groin. A day and a half later, it had grown as big as a lime.
New imagining technique could lead to better antibiotics and cancer drugs
Nov 09, 2009 |
5 / 5 (4) |
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A recently devised method of imaging the chemical communication and warfare between microorganisms could lead to new antibiotics, antifungal, antiviral and anti-cancer drugs, said a Texas AgriLife Research scientist.
