Bacteria are everywhere. They can be found in chains or clusters, have different shapes, thrive in different environments, and some can be harmful or could be necessary to maintain our health. Some are even used to produce antibiotics to treat infection. While there is so much research that has be done to observe bacteria, there is still so many new discoveries. One of the greatest discoveries in the medicine was Alexander Fleming finding a weird mold that prevented the growth of Staphylococcus on a cantaloupe.
The bacteria grown by the mold is called Penicillium rubens which is now used as an antibiotic to treat many infections caused by gram-positive cocci, gram-positive rods, most anaerobes, and gram-negative cocci. This discovery became crucial in preventing death from infection towards the end of World War II. Although Fleming’s discovery in 1929 was very important, it didn’t become relevant around the time of World War II. Fleming observed and noted the effects of the mold on bacteria but was unable to isolate the antibacterial substance alone. The Oxford research group, which included many biochemists, was determined to purify Penicillin, and show that it can save mice from different types of deadly bacteria.
This advance in medicine showed that there are bacteria, or fungi, or other organisms that can be used to kill other bacteria, but not necessarily harm any of the “good” bacteria. This specific characteristic of bacteria is what allowed the world of antibiotics grow. Once human studies began with Penicillin, it became clear that there was going to be a high demand. Penicillin from the cantaloupe serves as the “parent” strain that is used to drive the production of commercial strains as Penicillin needed to be mass produced.
Although Penicillin was a huge advancement in medicine, it started with understanding bacterial diversity. As stated before, Penicillin is only useful against certain bacteria, not all. There are new antibacterial agents that have been discovered to target different bacterial morphologies. There are also new bacteria being discovered that have different characteristics that are still being understood. At the end of the day, understanding bacteria and its diverse world is going to be important to continue with antibiotics as resistance is on the rise.
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