 The Discovery and Early Development of Antibiotics
Antibiotic activity was first discovered in the 19th century when the French chemist Louis Pasteur noticed that certain bacteria have the ability to kill other bacteria that case anthrax, a cattle disease. A little later, German chemist and doctor Paul Ehrlich began to synthesize chemical compounds that could attack infectious bacteria without harming the organisms being infected. In 1909, Ehrlich's experiments led to the creation for salvarsan, an arsenic-containing compound that could destroy the bacteria that caused the sexually transmitted disease syphilis.
The next major breakthrough in antibiotic development came from the work of British bacteriologist Sir Alexander Fleming . During World War I, Fleming had been involved in the effort to control serious and widespread infections in wounds. After the war, Fleming continued research into identifying compounds that could kill bacteria.
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Bacterial growth inhibited by penicillin mold in a culture dish. - Dr.Christine Case, Skyline College, California |
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In 1928, Fleming unintentionally left a culture dish lying uncovered in his lab. He later found the dish had become contaminated with mold spores. Rather than discarding it, Fleming examined the dish and noticed that areas around the mold were free from bacteria. When Fleming studied extracts of the mold, he fount it had antibacterial properties. In 1929, this mold -- discovered by chance -- was identified as Penicillium notatum; he called the antibacterial substance, extracted from the mold, penicillin.
The original form of penicillin was easily destroyed in the gastrointestinal tract and so could not be given by mouth and it was too impure to be injectable. Research flagged until World War II, when renewed interest turned to finding ways to purify enough penicillin to be useful against human illnesses.
Other antibiotics were gradually developed, with varying degres of success. In 1944 streptomycin was discovered by American biologist Selman Waksman; it quickly became the main treatment for tuberculosis.
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