History Of Discovery And Application Of Antibiotics

Definition Evolution

Long ago, people found that some microorganisms can inhibit the growth and reproduction of other microorganisms, and called this phenomenon as antibiosis. With the development of science, people have finally revealed the essence of the antibiosis phenomenon, found substances with antibiosis effects in some microorganisms, and called these substances antibiotics, such as penicillin produced by penicillium, streptomycin produced by streptomyces griseus, etc. Later, people further improved the definition of antibiotics, that is, a class of chemical substances produced by some microorganisms in the course of life that can inhibit or kill some other pathogenic microorganisms. [2]

Because some antibiotics discovered initially mainly kill bacteria, antibiotics were once called antibiotics. However, with the continuous development of antibiotics, anti-virus, anti chlamydia, anti mycoplasma, and even anti-tumor antibiotics have also been found and applied in clinical practice. Obviously, it is inappropriate to call them antibiotics, so the name of antibiotics seems more realistic. [3]

The emergence of antineoplastic antibiotics shows that the chemical substances produced by microorganisms can inhibit the proliferation or metabolism of cancer cells in addition to the originally mentioned effects of inhibiting or killing certain pathogenic microorganisms. Therefore, the definition of modern antibiotics should be: substances produced by certain microorganisms that can inhibit the proliferation of microorganisms and other cells.