Teixobactin Research Paper

“So, you’d need more sick people. Or else– and it might be the same thing– more diseases. New and different ones. Right?”

In 1928 Dr. Alexander Fleming began to sort through a pile of petri dishes containing colonies of bacteria that causes boils, sore throats, and abscesses. As he sorted through the dishes he noticed something unusual on one dish. It was dotted with colonies, and one area had a blob of mold growing. The area of mold was later identified as a rare strain of Penicillium notatum, the mold had secreted something that inhibited bacterial growth. Fleming later uncovered that this mold was capable of killing a wide range of harmful bacteria such as streptococcus, meningococcus and the diphtheria bacillus, that had played humanities. Prior to the discovery of Penicillin, Sulfa drugs were used during World War II. These drugs were name as the “wonder drug”. Although they’re still used today, Sulfa drugs were used to cure bacterial infections such as UTIs and gonorrhea. The new found drug penicillin, would cure millions and replace the use of Sulfa drugs.

In September of 1928, a rushed bacteriologist Dr. Alexander Fleming let his lab at St. Mary’s Hospital, as usual, a mess on his way to a month vacation. Little did he know he had just spawned one of the most crucial inventions of all time. Upon his return to his laboratory he found mold had grown in the petri dishes he had left out. One of whom contained the rare spore Penicillium notatum that had probably wafted up into his lab through the air currents from the down-stairs mycology lab. Dr. Fleming noticed a ring around the mold, and it was 100% bacteria free! Curiosity urged him onward, as he grew a pure culture of the mold and discover that it killed a great deal of disease-causing bacteria. He would go on to name the substance penicillin.

The pharmaceutical industry is one of the most powerful and greedy industries in our country, with a goal to make as large a profit as possible, at the expense of the sick.

The disclosure by Alexander Fleming of penicillin opened up a totally new time of chemotherapy. Antibiotics are the chemotherapeutic specialists that kill or inhabit the development of microorganisms. These substance operators are utilized to treat malady by wrecking pathogenic microorganisms or restraining their development at focus sufficiently low to enough to avoid undesirable harm to the host (Dafale et al., 2016).

The Pharmaceutical industry has been in the spotlight for decades due to the fact that they have a reputation for being unethical in its marketing strategies. In The Washington Post Shannon Brownlee (2008) states, “We try never to forget that medicine is for the people. It is not for the profits. The profits follow.” This honorable statement is completely lost in today’s world of pharmaceutical marketing tactics. These tactics are often deceptive and biased. Big Pharma consistently forgets their moral purpose and focuses primarily on the almighty dollar. Big Pharma is working on restoring their reputation by reforming their ethical code of conduct.

In this reading there was many very interesting facts about penicillin. Penicillin was a breakthrough in the medical field in the 20th century. The scientist Alexander Fleming had accidentally spilled a vile of bacteria on to a plate of bacteria to his benefit he found that is had stopped the growth of bacteria. This accidental discover has benefited everyone in the world because we have to get these shots if we are infected, plus it saved many life’s in world war II. However, Penicillin is considered an antibiotic chemical that is created by living organism to stop the growth of bacteria and prevent an illness if people were to come into contact with this problem. Since the discovery and massive stock piling of this cure it has become less

The high prices set by pharmaceutical companies for drugs allows the companies to continue researching, developing, and producing new drugs. As new diseases are discovered, new medications must be discovered in order to treat them.

As a writer for The Globe and Mail, Jennifer Yang, stated, “Anti-bacterial products containing anti-microbial agents are being increasingly marketed to Canadians for personal and household use despite a lack of evidence for additional benefit and serious concerns about the potential for increased bacterial resistance.” The concern she is talking about is centred in the use of the products such as disinfectant sprays, of which can kill 99.9% of bacteria on a given surface. The 0.1% that is left remaining is the mutated antibiotic-resistant super bug which the disinfectant is unable to kill due to its mutated nature. And being the only type left, it has no competitors remaining for resources and can divide at a rapid pace, giving birth to a larger colony of highly dangerous pathogens. The same phenomena occurs when patients stop taking antibiotics half way through their treatment. The amount of bacteria in their body at that point has a higher percentage of stronger bacteria than the weaker. Therefore, when the patient decides to stop their antibiotic treatment, they inadvertently create more resistant bacteria than there originally was in their body, as the mutated bacteria now has more room to grow. If those bacteria are then passed on to another person, the rate of resistant bacteria dramatically increases, raising the amount of near invincible pathogens in the world by another percentage.

A majority of pharmaceutical companies thought that penicillin was to be a cure for any infection. At first no one expected that bacteria would mutate and become stronger. Initially pharmaceutical companies stopped doing research for new antibiotics and concentrated on other areas. As the result,

Antibiotic development is one of the modern marvels of medicine. This is the first external tool that people have to fight against bacterial infections. The first drug developed was Penicillin. This medication is so effective that it is still used today. From its structure, every other antibacterial drug was developed. Today, there are hundreds of options available for treating infections. Unfortunately, this has had significant ramifications on the development of resistance to these medications. As the infections continue to learn and evolve, it is important that people educate themselves on what this means and the impacts it has.

Penicillin brought about the biggest search in medical history. It was reasoned that if there was one antibiotic in nature, there must be many more, and there were.

Another anti-infection – the first in about 30 years – has been found by researchers who claim it gives off an impression of being as great, or shockingly better than, numerous current medications with the possibility to conflict with an expansive scope of lethal diseases, for example, pneumonia and tuberculosis.

"Antibiotics continue to be powerful weapons to fight infection, but inappropriate use makes the treatment of microbial infections increasingly challenging. Successful antibiotic stewardship can help mitigate the development of antimicrobial resistance and lead to better outcomes (MLO, 2016)." The first antibiotic introduced and produced in the United States was penicillin in the 1940's. From 1940 to 1960 more than 20 new classes of antibiotics were introduced, and resistant strains developed within five years of each new class. Although the research for new antibiotics has stalled, the use and distribution of antibiotics has increased (Smith, 2015).

To begin with, I truly believe that the researchers, who have devoted their lives into studying the dynamics of drug interactions for the purpose of enhancing microbial eradication, are heroes in their own right. They have abide to do something with all their heart and soul for the better of mankind. We are living in an age where commitment is often, obscured by day to day life. Individuals make goals, often in the pursuit of glory, but Muhammad Ali once told us that goals, not written down, are only dreams. One can dream all we like but without commitment, nothing can be achieved.