Related topics: bacteria , infectious diseases , antibiotic resistance
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.
For more information about Antibiotic, read the full article at
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News tagged with antibiotics
2 Americans, 1 Israeli win Nobel chemistry prize
Oct 07, 2009 |
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(AP) -- Two Americans and an Israeli scientist won the 2009 Nobel Prize in chemistry on Wednesday for atom-by-atom mapping of the protein-making factories within cells - a feat that has spurred the development ...
Researchers discover a new antibacterial lead
Sep 27, 2009 |
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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 ...
C. difficile spores spread superbug
Jul 20, 2009 |
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New research suggests that antibiotic treatment could be asymptomatically inducing the transmission of the healthcare-acquired infection, C. difficile, contributing to the outbreaks that have recently been widely reported in hos ...
Novel nanotechnology heals abscesses caused by resistant staph bacteria
Nanotechnology / Bio & Medicine
16 hours ago |
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Researchers at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine of Yeshiva University have developed a new approach for treating and healing skin abscesses caused by bacteria resistant to most antibiotics. The study ...
Scientists get up close to bacteria's toxic pumps
Nov 30, 2009 |
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Scientists are building a clearer image of the machinery employed by bacteria to spread antibiotic resistance or cause diseases such as whooping cough, peptic stomach ulcers and legionnaires' disease.
Over-the-counter eye drops raise concern over antibiotic resistance
Medicine & Health / Medications
Nov 27, 2009 |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- The use of antibiotic eye drops for conjunctivitis has increased by almost half since they became available over the counter at chemists in 2005, data obtained by Oxford University researchers ...
Study reveals why certain drug combinations backfire
Nov 13, 2009 |
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Combination drug therapy has become a staple for treating many infections. For instance, doctors treat extensively drug resistant forms of tuberculosis with one drug that breaks down the pathogen's protective barriers and ...
New imagining technique could lead to better antibiotics and cancer drugs
Nov 09, 2009 |
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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.
Scientists learn why some drugs pack such a punch
Aug 20, 2009 |
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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 ...
Genes key to staph disease severity, drug resistance found hitchhiking together
Jul 31, 2009 |
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Scientists studying Staphylococcus bacteria, including methicillin-resistant S. aureus (MRSA), have discovered a potent staph toxin responsible for disease severity. They also found the gene for the toxin traveling with a geneti ...
Bacteria pack their own demise
Jul 30, 2009 |
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Numerous pathogens contain an 'internal time bomb', a deadly mechanism that can be used against them. After years of work, VIB researchers at the Vrije Universiteit Brussel (VUB) were able to determine the structure and operating ...
Bacterial 'sex' causes antibiotic resistance
Jun 11, 2009 |
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Some disease-causing bacteria are becoming resistant to antibiotics because they have peculiar sex lives, say researchers publishing new results today in the journal Science. The new study helps scientists understand how ba ...
Unexpected discovery can open a new chapter in the fight against tuberculosis
Jun 08, 2009 |
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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 ...
Public health campaign associated with major reduction in antibiotic use
Medicine & Health / Medications
Jun 02, 2009 |
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A national public health campaign in France was associated with a marked reduction of unnecessary antibiotic prescriptions, particularly in children, says new research published in this week's open-access journal PLoS Me ...
Newly discovered reactions from an old drug may lead to new antibiotics
Jun 01, 2009 |
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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.
