The Discovery of Antibiotics - Scholarship Essay Example

The more advances that are made in Medicine, the more things stay the same Antibiotics One of the wonderful discoveries of the twentieth century remains discovery of antibiotics. As much as this is true, what remains a real wonder is the continued increase of antibiotic resistance in communities, health centers, as well as the environment affiliated to their usage. The behavior shown by people in overusing antibiotics gives room to enhancing the extraordinary ability of microbes to take advantage of each available source of resistance genes besides each way of horizontal gene transfer in the process of developing various ways of resistance for all antibiotic introduced for application either agriculturally or clinically. The likely development of resistance or tolerance compromises the successful application of therapeutic from the first day of usage. This applies to agents in the treatment of fugal, bacterial, viral, and parasitic infections in addition to the treatment of chronic ailments including diabetes and cancer among many more. Furthermore, it is true to diseases caused by living things among them animals, human beings, plants, insects, and fish. Fifty years after the discovery of infectious agents, the discovery and application of antibiotics provided an immediate solution to one of the main diseases that wiped communities (Correll, 2001, p. 1708). They took a major step in revolutionizing medicine in various perspectives. Doctors saved millions of lives since then to date. The discovery of antibiotics became a turning point in the history of humanity. Sadly, continued use of antibiotics resulted into the development of resistance resulting in the appearance of strains resistant to drugs. Experts in the medical profession now send a warning that the world would easily return to the ear before the discovery of antibiotics. Reports from the World Health Organization show that at present, there are more than twenty thousand genes with the capacity to resistant treatment. Scholars refer to these genes as the r genes. The more than twenty thousand genes are in more than four hundred different types. Health experts have the capacity to predict the genome impacts (Deutsch, 2007, p. 121). The good side of it is that there are few of such functional resistance within pathogens. Over the past sixty years academicians have delved into writing literature that describes the biochemistry and genetics of origins, various ways of antibiotic resistance, and evolution. Form of action, antibiotic discovery, as well as perspectives of resistance continue to produce productive topics for research in the academic spheres including the pharmaceutical discipline that appears as the newest kid on the flock (Adelman, 1999, p. 293). Resistant genes are natural products that offer challenging exercises intellectually besides surprising professionals because of their biosynthetic routes, chemical composition and nature, biochemical ways of behavior, and evolution criterion. Synthesis of the natural products in the laboratory remains a complicated affair even for the professionals with experience. This is because the micro molecules remain complex in chirality and functionality always and in extreme modes (Benbow, 1982, p. 611). The antibiotic penicillin for instance, came to the limelight in nineteen twenty-eight, but the world waited until mid twentieth century for professionals to understand the complex framework of the simplest type. This was courtesy of the X-ray crystallographic research by Dorothy Crowfoot and ten years later in nineteen fifty-nine, a confirmation took place. Research on the appropriate modes of action gives important biochemical information about ligands in addition to aiming through the history entailing antibiotics. Through this, the use of antibiotics remains at the centre of the life coming out as phenotypic mutants present in cell physiology researches. Studies in these interactions resulted into the growth and development of the branch of biology that deals with genetics (Crisp, 2009, p. 926). This addiction is similar to that caused by smoking as held by most scholars of human behavior. Signs of such occurrences are around for instance the diagnosis of Sheryl Crow with brain tumor with doctors suspecting the use of a cell phone being one of the likely causes. Therefore, it is important to caution people against the use of smart meters and the whole wireless sector with capacity to inflict harm to the human body. The understanding of how antibiotics work remains meager and the definition in terms of phenotypes appears in few occasions when a close interaction takes place between the macromolecular receptor and the small molecule. On the contrary, most people know different biological functions of antibiotics as much as they do not comprehend ways through which the function. To date, issues surrounding biological and chemical reactions continue to draw much interest from people as they did in the past. The abuse of antibiotic drugs has resulted in several bacterial pathogens related to human diseases that cause epidemics to mutate into multidrug-resistance structures (Charles, 2002, p. 581). The Multidrug-resistance M. tuberculosis for instance is a good example of a big pathogen in industrialized as well as developing countries and developed into the twentieth century version of the former pathogen. Nosocomial is another type of serious infection with Burkholderia cepacia, Enterobacter spp.,Acinetobacter baumannii, Staphylococcus epidermidis, Citrobacter freundii, Haemophilus influenzae, Campylobacter jejuni, Clostridium difficile, Enterococcus faecium, Escherichia coli, Klebsiella pneumoniae, Enterococcus faecalis, Staphylococcus aureus, Salmonella spp., Serratia spp., Proteus mirabilis, Stenotrophomonas maltophilia, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, and Streptococcus pneumoniae (AAUW, 2008, p. 116). Experts in the field of medicine use the term superbugs to refer to microbes with high mortality and morbidity because of many mutations bringing high degree of resistance to the categories of antibiotics particularly recommended for their treatment. In such cases, therapeutic alternatives for the microbes are low resulting in the extension of hospital care and this increases the cost of health and medication (Barone, 2011, p. 169). Superresistant genes contain enhanced capacity to transmit and increased virulence. Doctors and pharmaceutical professionals concur that antibiotic resistance is a virulence factor. Over the last century medical care around the globe continues to experience countless changes. This feature remains common in Canada, United States, United Kingdom, and the European Union, as well major developments in Asia, Latin America and Africa. Medical care saw the eradication of common scourges that wiped populations such as malaria in Europe and small pox in Canada all these courtesy of science offering new methods and tools of handling the diseases and enhancing the quality of life in addition to prolonging the same substantially. The changes are evident among various hospitals in many countries. The society considers some features today as normal and acceptable including health practitioners agitating for the use of wireless tools to trace health information. It is possible that this feature would be reckless and preposterous in the coming years because continued increase in the health costs of getting addicted to using the wireless tools go up. Statistics show that using a mobile phone causes both a psychological and physical addiction. All in all, developments in the field of medicine as well as medical care, efforts to introduce, new ways of treating scourges, and tools used in surgery takes place under one thing that remains constant; Discovery of various drugs. Medical professionals also refer to antibiotics as antibacterial. They are kinds of prescriptions that slow down or destroy the growth and development of bacteria. The epistemology of the word antibiotics is Greek. They are important in treating infections resulting from bacteria. On the other hand, bacteria microscopic organisms with some causing illness while others being helpful. Among the diseases caused by bacteria is tuberculosis, syphilis, various kinds of meningitis, and salmonella. While some bacteria are good to humanity, others are dangerous. There is a close relationship between germs, microbes, and antibiotics. Professionals in the health profession categorize germs or microbes into various groups. The classifications are bacteria, viruses, parasites, fungi, and yeasts. Bacteria are of different types. Some bacteria flourish in our bodies naturally. In most cases, they reside in the vagina and bowels. Helpful ones protect the body against infections. Infectious ones however, cause many diseases including pneumonia, tuberculosis, and meningitis. A course of antibiotics is sufficient to treat a bacterial infection. The World Health Organization avers that antibiotics are hitherto prescriptions that fight most infections caused by bacteria therefore, essential tools in saving lives if used properly. They either kill the bacteria or create an unconducive environment for them to reproduce and survive. They create a perfect environment for the natural defense body system to operate. This is possible because under normal circumstances, the immune system of the body has the capacity to destroy the bacteria before they multiply and generate symptoms. The same system can tackle the symptoms if they occur. However, under extreme situations the immune system requires a boost from antibiotics. Penicillin was the first antibiotic to be discovered. Related antibiotics including amoxicillin, ampicillin, and benzyl penicillin are common drugs that treat various infections (Dalton, 2007, p. 308). The antibiotics have been using the penicillin-related antibiotics for many years. Antibiotics do not cure all infections. They are specific on clearing infections caused by parasites and all bacteria. They are ineffective when the infection results from fungi, viruses, and yeasts. It is important to understand that the immune system has the capacity to clear many bacterial infections therefore, antibiotics are not necessary for any or all bacterial infection for instance, an ear infection in a person who is fit. Antibiotics treat serious infections from bacteria including kidney infections as opposed to throat infection, meningitis, and pneumonia among many more (Boli, 1985, 612). This is when antibiotics become important in saving lives. Antibiotics are important elements of modern medicine. This is since the introduction of penicillin in the mid twentieth century the number of deaths resulting from bacterial infections reduced significantly. Even today, antibiotics are important in saving lives as they necessitate major treatments such as managing cancer and in the process of organ transplant. The knowledge about resistance of dugs was common even before the discovery of penicillin and its introduction on the market. Therefore, it is ironical that the world is struggling today fighting resistance of antibiotics, which should have been a precaution in the process of using antibiotics. Bacteria evolve when flooded with antibiotics. They become resistant to the prescriptions and distribute through sharing the resistance features. It is not surprising that the bacteria now outsmart some of the best antibiotics yet the development of alternative medication is still not in sight. The world appears to sit comfortably at the end of effective antibiotics in treating and managing bacterial infections. This clarion call comes out despite the fact that, social behaviors appear concrete and unchanging. The truth and fact is that social norms remain elastic and are subject to adjustments albeit occasionally. It becomes the responsibility of an individual to explore dangers of using harmless technology as opposed to running along the assumption that there is no harm in using wireless technology. Health experts on the other hand, hold that wireless radiation is a component of Class 2B carcinogen and even the World Health Organization holds the same views. Antibiotics occupy the topmost part on the most prescribed drugs in the field of medicine. However, inappropriate or unnecessary prescription makes the bacteria develop resistance. More than three million people around the world get sick because of antibiotic-resistant infection with the world loosing almost one hundred thousand from the same. Experts in health financial matters estimate that drug resistance adds more than thirty billion United States dollars in direct excess costs. Resistance originates from various physiological and biochemical mechanisms (Buchmann, 2006, p. 531). For antimicrobial agents in particular, it is worth emphasizing on the complexity of ways that enhance the emergence and of resistance distribution because of limited information available both in literature and among professionals about the same. This explains why there is little success in attaining efficient preventive and cautionary measures against the development of resistance. However, it is important to understand that most local, international, and nonprofit making organizations in the field of health recognize the seriousness of this problem. The development of antibiotic resistance defies all efforts from various recommendations, resolutions, and reports to remain relentless (Dunteman, 1979, p. 52). Resistance by bacteria remains the most profound example besides being the most costly regarding mortality and morbidity. Scientists discovered this infectious agent towards the end of the ninetieth century paving way for the search and development of the necessary and right preventive and therapeutic remedies. Bibliography AAUW. (2008). Where the girls are: The facts about gender equity in Education. Washington. Adelman, C. (1999). 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