In recent times, medicine has led to an increase in average life expectancy which was only around 36 at the end of the 1800s. Improving the quality of life is one of the key benefits of integrating innovations into medicine and antibiotics. New medical technologies have made it possible for individuals to spend less time at hospitals for recovery and leading a healthier lifestyle. The 19th century saw economic growth, along with scientific discoveries and inventions that allowed rapid progress in detecting and preventing diseases and in understanding how bacteria and viruses function.
In the late 19th century, scientists began to observe an antibacterial chemical in action. A German physician named Paul Ehrlich noticed that certain chemical dyes coloured only some of the bacterial cells. He, thus, concluded that it must be possible to create substances that can destroy bad bacteria selectively without destroying other cells present. This led to the discovery of a chemical called Arsphenamine which was an effective treatment for syphilis- and thus, the first modern antibiotic. In the 1920s, Alexander Fleming worked throughout his laboratory at St. Mary’s Hospital in London when, almost by mistake, he found a naturally-growing material capable of attacking certain bacteria. He called it Penicillin, after the Penicillium mould that it was made in.
With the progress made in the field of antibiotics, researchers at Northeastern University have invented a new antibiotic that is capable of treating infections caused by some superbug. This antibiotic promises to be a much-needed tool in the war on drug-resistant bacteria that is estimated to cause 700,000 deaths worldwide every year. This antibiotic will prove to be instrumental in countering dangerous antibiotic-resistant bacteria that is increasing in frequency over the years. Finding a molecule that targets protein out of the trillion bacteria is a great achievement to start with.
Mayuri Talgaonkar
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