• Question: what was the earliest form of antibiotics?

    Asked by henryjones to Clare, Mariana, Pedro, Robert, Susanne on 9 Nov 2012.
    • Photo: Susanne Muekusch

      Susanne Muekusch answered on 9 Nov 2012:

      The earliest antibiotic which has been used by humans as medicine was penicillin. And its discovery is a wonderful story about serendipity in science. The guy who discovered it wasn’t after finding antibiotics. He did experiments with bacteria and one day one of his dishes, where he was growing the bacteria on, was contaminated with fungus. He realized that no bacteria were growing close to the fungus. So he concluded that the fungus was releasing something that killed the bacteria. Something turned out to be penicillin. Penicillin belongs to a class of antibiotics which prevents the bacteria from producing their cell wall, which eventually kills them. Although it was the first antibiotic discovered, it is still one of the most widely prescribed antibiotics- most likely you already took some yourself! (I took it only once, as it turned out I was allergic to penicillin).

    • Photo: Clare Taylor

      Clare Taylor answered on 12 Nov 2012:

      Many of us have heard of penicillin and the story of Alexander Fleming who found some fungus accidentally growing on his petri dishes – it turns out that the fungus produced a substance that stopped his bacteria from growing – this substance later became the antibiotic penicillin, but some evidence has been uncovered that suggests an ancient civilization called the Nubians were using a form of antibiotics some 2000 years ago! Bones from Nubians dating back to 350 AD were found to have a form of antibiotic called tetracycline in them and the scientists think that the Nubians used to drink fermented beer that contained the microbe that produces tetracycline. Whether or not they used it deliberately we will never know, but the scientists found it in bones from young children so they think they were given the beer to try and treat illness! Amazing!

    • Photo: Robert Insall

      Robert Insall answered on 18 Nov 2012:

      But why does fungus make antibiotics? It turns out that in the wild, the bacteria and fungi are always fighting for turf. The fungi make antibiotics as a weapon to help them grow better and the bacteria to do worse.

      Even micro-organisms fight all the time.

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