Throughout the centuries, there have been many scientific discoveries which have played an important role for the betterment of the world. Although there have also been some that have changed the world for the worse. Some are well-known and instantly come to mind when one is asked to name the most important scientific discoveries of all time, but there are other weighty discoveries that are more refined in nature - ones that are easily overlooked, regardless of the tremendous impact they may have had on the world. One of such discoveries is antibiotics which have revolutionized today’s medicine. Perhaps my choice will match up with yours, or maybe it will be vastly different.

The discovery of antibiotics has proved to be a boon a boon to human welfare but some also have the opinion that they are the necessary evils. We do have Alexander Flemming to thank for this discovery back in 1928[1], when he forgot to clean up his workstation before going on holiday after which the golden age of antibiotics started. Antibiotics are the chemical substances which are produced by various micro-organisms and other living systems and are capable of inhibiting the growth of or killing bacteria and other micro-organisms.
Before the discovery of antibiotics, nothing much could be done by anybody and deaths on large scale were claimed. For instance Streptococcus pyogenes was the cause of half of all post-birth deaths[2] and Staphylococcus aureus was fatal in 80% of infected wounds and the tuberculosis and pneumonia bacteria were famous killers. Now, discovery of antibiotics has enabled the medical line of work to treat these communicable diseases [3] together with some that were once life threatening. These are also given to cattle to increase weight gains and for better nourishment [4].
Antibiotics can be bacteriostatic (bacteria stopped from multiplying) [5] or bactericidal (bacteria killed). These interfere with bacterial cell surface, causing a change in their mode of reproduction [3]. Antibiotics comes in quite a lot of forms and given in various ways such as topical application, orally or as injections. Other method is parental. Manufacturing of antibiotics is in two ways. One of them is natural and is known as biosynthesis while other type is synthetic. Commonly used antibiotics includes Penicillin, Cephalosporin’s, Aminoglycosides, Tetracycline’s,and Polypeptides Bacitracin.

Now the question arises that if these are having so advantages then why these are known as necessary evil. The answer to this lies in the fact that all drugs have the potential to be both beneficial and harmful. Antibiotics also carry the seeds of their own destruction as they kill sensitive bacteria, allowing resistant ones to survive, storing up problems for future treatments[6]. Allergic reactions to antibiotics are usually seen as rashes, but severe anemia, stomach disorders and deafness can occasionally result. It was once believed that allergic reactions to antibiotics were frequent and permanent but now-a-days we can use anti allergics.
The solution to all such problems is better diagnostics and targeted use of antibiotics [7]. One should have to act by practising: "antibiotic stewardship" to choose only those drugs that are appropriate and known to work for a particular infection; good infection control; and reducing the number of patients who receive antibiotics when they don't need them.
REFERENCES:
1. Diggins FW. (1999). The true history of the discovery of penicillin with refutation of the misinformation in the literature. British journal of biomedical science, 56(2), 83. 2. Cleary PP, Schlievert PM, Handley JP (1992). Clonal basis for resurgence of serious Streptococcus pyogenes disease in the 1980s. 339, 518–521. 3. Tulkens PM (1991. Intracellular distribution and activity of antibiotics. European Journal of Clinical Microbiology and infectious diseases, 10(2), 100-106. 4. Gilliam HC, Martin JR (1975). Economic importance of antibiotics in feeds to producers and consumers of pork, beef and veal. Journal of Animal Science, 40(6), 1241. 5. Dodd MC, Stillman WB, Roys M, Crosby C (1994). The in vitro bacteriostatic action of some simple furan derivatives. Journal of Pharmacology and experimental theraputics, 82(1), 8-11. 6. Hobson FC, Rice-Oxley JM (1951). Side-effects of Antibiotics. British Medical Journal. 1(4707), 642. 7. CG Prober, PD Walson, J Jones (2000). Technical report: Precautions regarding the use of aerosolized antibiotics. Pediatrics, 106(6), 89.