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Antibiotic - Dictionary Definition and Overview |
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Antibiotic : adj : of or relating to antibiotic drugs
(noun)
1: a chemical substance derivable from a mold or bacterium that
kills microorganisms and cures infections; "when
antibiotics were first discovered they were called wonder
drugs" [syn: antibiotic drug]
Based on WordNet 2.0
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Antibiotic : Antibiotic: A drug used to treat infections caused by bacteria and other microorganisms. Originally, an antibiotic was a substance produced by one microorganism that selectively inhibits the
growth of another. Synthetic antibiotics, usually chemically related to natural antibiotics, have since been produced that accomplish comparable tasks.
In 1926, Alexander Fleming discovered penicillin, a substance produced by fungi that appeared able to inhibit bacterial growth. In 1939, Edward Chain and Howard Florey further studied penicillin and
later carried out trials of penicillin on humans (with what were deemed fatal bacterial infections). Fleming, Florey and Chain shared the Nobel Prize in 1945 for their work which ushered in the era of
antibiotics.
Another antibiotic, for example, is tetracycline (brand names: Achromycin and Sumycin), a broad-spectrum agent effective against a wide variety of bacteria including Hemophilus influenzae,
Streptococcus pneumoniae, Mycoplasma pneumoniae, Chlamydia psittaci, Chlamydia trachomatis, Neisseria gonorrhoea, and many others. The first drug of the tetracycline family, chlortetracycline, was
introduced in 1948.
Based on WordNet (r) 2.0 (August 2003)
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