BACTERIA FRIEND OR FOE?

here man has locked his heaviest artillery against premature death anti biotics thousands of lives were saved in war thanks to this killer of bacteria thousands of men spared crippling amputation wartime necessity speeded up research and production of antibiotics and all of mankind benefited from it this child infected with impetigo only a short time ago would have had to suffer for weeks for medical science was almost powerless against the bacteria which caused skin infections of this sort now she will be healed in a few days this student hurt in play infected afterwards will be in school in a day or so with the help of these miraculous drugs this young woman now still breathing heavily under an attack of pneumonia we'll be back with her family in a short time thanks to the help from man's most successful microbe killers what are these miraculous substances that kill bacteria we call them antibiotics in Greek anti means against BIOS stands for life antibiotic means that one living organism kills another the term is not new observing nature man has long known that each species must fight for its survival the fittest survives and keeps the species strong and healthy this natural antagonism keeps balance among the living creatures in nature this is also true for the invisible world of microorganisms the microscope reveals how one single cell and impedes on another this is what anti by OSIS means but people are killing the opponent is only one way in which antagonism is expressed there are other chemical substances that will prevent other microorganisms from crowding them this is their way of expressing anti bios's now now that we know what antibiotics we may be able to answer what antibiotics are antibiotics are chemical substances produced by microbes which tend to inhibit the growth of other microorganisms and even kill them in other words antibiotics are not man-made drugs but chemical substances produced by microorganisms let's investigate this more closely in a biology laboratory this small dish will help to demonstrate the action of antibiotics this dish is filled with a jelly on the surface of which we grow a thin film of bacteria these round bacteria are called staphylococci these bacteria would multiply in the human body just as they multiply in the laboratory culture medium an English physician dr. Alexander Fleming interested in bacteriology worked with a similar culture of staphylococci but inadvertently a speck of dust fell into the dish carrying a mold belonging to the family of molds called penicillium we have put such a mold into this dish ourselves while impurities often spoil the pure lab cultures and are thrown away in this case dr. Alexander Fleming decided to investigate their action several days later he noticed what we're seeing now namely that clusters of bacteria had spread all across the dish but left a ring of clear jelly around the penicillium mold evidently the mold was doing something to the staphylococci that prevented them from spreading into this area dr. Fleming tried dish after dish of the same bacterial culture always with the same results the penicillium mold fought off the bacteria dr. Fleming described his observations in a paper that at the time failed to stir the scientific world but in 1938 after the success of sulfa drugs had rekindled an interest in healing with chemicals a group of Oxford scientists under dr. Florey picked up Fleming's experiments from Fleming's observations and from Flores research team and from the work that followed in England and America a new science was born the science of antibiotics a new name was added to our vocabulary penicillin the name derived from the mold that stopped Fleming staphylococci and which belongs to the family of molds penicillium physicians all over the world use penicillin today mm-hmm that's very good for temperatures dropping fine for this type of blood-poisoning penicillin is a sure weapon you all need to worry we'll have her out of here in a week thank you doctor goodbye honey yes doctors use penicillin with great success because know they have a potent killer of disease-causing bacteria which will not endanger the cells of the human organism here is why this is so important processes find which an organism lives our own organism or that of a microbe are pretty much the same therefore whatever would interfere with the chemistry of the microbe but in most cases also harm the human tissue the problem is to find antibiotics that kill harmful bacteria but do not hurt the patient penicillin is such an antibiotic harmless to the human and effective against many disease-causing bacteria but not against all of them new antibiotics are being developed each of them interfering in some way or another with the lifecycle of some harmful microorganisms in measles for instance and then you're going to be all right Kathy it's the measles all right certainly looks like it if you'll give her this antibiotic five times a day I think that will take care of the measles and those after a fact that we worry about as well well that fine thank you very much doctor I'll see you later Kathy all right honey here we go yes antibiotics fight against many kinds of bacteria each affecting some microorganisms in some special way for instance one group of antibiotics interferes with the ability of the microorganism to use up food to produce energy while there is food in abundance all around the microorganism its ability to use up the food is impaired as a consequence the microbe dies of starvation another group of antibiotics acts upon the thin membrane which envelops the cell and dissolves it the microorganism practically falls apart under the attack penicillin belongs to a third group of antibiotics which probably interferes with the ability of the cell to reproduce bacteria and other simple micro organisms reproduce by dividing a mature cell produces two identical cells by division these cells mature and divide again thus multiplying the species in the presence of penicillin cells of bacterial micro-organisms grow to maturity then continue to grow but fail to divide eventually the cells are grow their own ability to live and they die with these miracle drugs obtained from moles man has made giant strides toward a total victory over harmful bacteria and because many moles have their origin in the soil a new research specialist came into prominence the soil specialist known as the mycologist mycologists develops strains of pure molds yeasts actinomyces and hosts of other microorganisms they guide them through their short life cycle and try to influence their life habits in such a way that they produce chemicals which can be utilized for the benefit of man thousands of mould cultures like these are studied in research centres once the right kind of microorganism has been found it is isolated and pure strains are reproduced next the pure culture goes to the fermentation chemists they multiply the microorganisms by the hundreds of millions by providing them with a place to spread and with the best food this ensures rapid growth and encourages them to produce the desired antibiotics then other specialists take over until the pure drug is obtained antibiotics the miracle drugs of our time indeed they seem to be producing miracles here a flock of chickens is getting antibiotics in their food a spoonful of antibiotic powder in a ton of food will increase the growth of chickens by ten percent similar experiments with pigs are showing even greater promise vitamin and antibiotic enriched foods bring the pigs to marketing weight more rapidly by feeding the piglets antibiotics milk they are weaned away from the mother after three to six days in this way the productivity of the saw can be doubled and runts an orphan pigs bottle fed to maturity new industrial products have grown out of this experimental work millions of tons of chicken and swine feed fortified with vitamins and antibiotics are sold to successful farmers and poultry raisers all over the country in a world of never-ending food problems this is an important development thus antibiotics produced by living microorganisms help mankind in the fight and in the fight against disease antibiotics give the doctor the heavy artillery to fight and conquer pneumonia to fight successfully deadly meningitis to attack various streptococcus infections but all the heavy artillery against the onslaught of disease has not yet been produced this hospital and many others are still filled with the sick for whom we have no antibiotic cure therefore research cannot stop the era of antibiotics has just begun every day we are coming closer to a time when we will understand more clearly what goes on inside the my new chemical workshops of the cells every day we are widening the horizons of knowledge in the quest for a better healthier and happier future of mankind