Key Stage 4
Meaning
Antibiotics are medicines that can weaken or kill micro-organisms when they have infected an organism.
About Antibiotics
- Antibiotics are mostly used to treat bacterial infections. However, they can be used to treat some fungal infections.
- Antibiotics were discovered by Alexander Fleming. However, the use of substances which contain antibiotics has been taking place for thousands of years with many ancient remedies involving the use of mould which is made of fungi which produce antibiotics.
- The first antibiotic to be discovered and isolated was Penicillin.
- Alexander Fleming discovered penicillin after accidentally contaminating a culture medium and noticing that bacterial colonies would not grow near some mould colonies. The mould was known as Penicillium so the chemical that was killing the bacteria was called Penicillin.
- Antibiotics work by damaging the cell walls of some micro-organisms. Once the micro-organism is weakened the immune system of the host organism can more easily kill the micro-organism.