History Of Discovery Of Antibiotics

In 1929, the British bacteriologist Fleming found that there was no bacterial growth around the colony of Penicillium that accidentally fell on the culture medium from the air when cultivating bacteria in the culture dish. He believed that Penicillium produced some chemical substances that were secreted into the culture medium to inhibit the growth of bacteria. This chemical was the first antibiotic found, penicillin. 

During the Second World War, Fleming and two other scientists, Flory and Chann, finally extracted penicillin and made it into a material drug to combat bacterial infection through hard work. Because during the war, drugs to prevent war wound infection are very important strategic materials. Therefore, the United States places the development of penicillin on the same important position as the development of the atomic bomb. 

In 1943, Zhu Jiming, a microbiologist who was also engaged in scientific research on anti Japanese, also isolated penicillium from mouldy leather and produced penicillin with this penicillium. [4]

In 1947, American microbiologist Waxman found and made streptomycin in the actinomycetes to treat tuberculosis. [4] Over the past half century, scientists have discovered nearly 10000 kinds of antibiotics. However, most of them are too toxic, so there are less than 100 kinds of drugs suitable for treating human or livestock infectious diseases. Later, it was found that antibiotics can not only inhibit the growth of microorganisms, but also inhibit the growth of parasites, some can weed, some can be used to treat cardiovascular diseases, and some can inhibit the immune response of the human body, which can be used in organ transplantation surgery. 

After the 1990s, scientists expanded the definition of antibiotics and gave a new name: biotin