The Antibiotic Resistant Crisis

Antibiotic resistance is , in itself, not surprising.  Nor is it new.  It is, however, newly worrying because it is accumulating and accelerating, while the world's tools for combating it decrease in power and number.

- Joshua Lederberg, Nobel Prize winner

Alexander Flemingās discovery of penicillin in 1928, and subsequent use in 1942, revolutionized modern health by providing a rapid cure to previously fatal infections.  This attribute of penicillin and antibiotics as a whole has earned them the title of miracle drugs.  Paradoxically, it is the overuse and misuse of these miracle drugs that have led to the current crisis of antibiotic resistance.  Penicillin, for example, was almost 100% effective against Staphylococcus in 1952 and was less than 10% effective in all clinical cases by 1982. 
Sir Alexander Fleming (1881-1955) received the Noble Prize in 1945 for the discovery of penicillin's effects on bacterial growth. 

What are Antibiotics

Antibiotics are products produced by microorganisms to inhibit the growth of competing bacteria.  In the 20^th century, scientists have discovered ways to make synthetic antibiotics, thus making the current antibiotic field an array of natural and synthetic antibiotics.  The function of antibiotics is to inhibit the growth of specific bacteria.  Antimicrobials accomplish this goal in several ways including inhibition of bacterial cell wall or cell membrane synthesis, transcription, translation, and metabolism. 
The petri dish Fleming observed after returning to his laboratory.  The penicillin mold (top) prevented Staphyloccus aureus bacteria (bottom) from growing.