Antibiotics are a commonly used treatment among people all over the world. Antibiotics are known as “medications that destroy or slow down the growth of bacteria” (MNT.com). These types of medicines are widely used to treat things such as colds, the flu, sore throats, and infections. These types of sickness would be categorized as bacterial infections. Bacteria are “microscopic, single-cell organisms” (OnHealth.com). Some bacteria may be airborne while some may live in the water or ground. Only about one percent of bacteria can actually make a person sick, however, when this happens, it can be very dangerous if not properly treated. This is because bacteria can reproduce very quickly and they give off toxins that harm the body. Bacteria can infect any area of the body. Some examples of bacteria include streptococcus, commonly known for producing strep throat, and staphylococcus, commonly known for staph infection. There are thousands of shapes and species of bacteria, some being beneficial and some being harmful. Bacteria most commonly reproduce by a process called fission. This process occurs when a single cell divides and produces two new cells. Bacteria are made up of about 80% water, therefore, water is a key factor in the way that bacteria operate. As time is progressing, bacteria are becoming more and more resistant to antibiotics. This is very important in the world because antibiotics, such as penicillin, may no longer be useful in treating infections. It is crucial that scientists find new ways to treat infections so that the world doesn’t fall back into its pre-antibiotic days. Scientists need to find ways to promote new techniques and ways to treat infections rather than using antibiotics.

Antibiotics have been around for a very long time and were once considered an amazing discovery. One of the first antibiotics to be discovered was Penicillin. This was discovered by Sir Alexander Fleming when he was working in his laboratory at St. Mary’s Hospital in London. Ironically, his discovery was an accident. He noticed that a fungus was growing and had contaminated his culture dish that he had left uncovered. Wherever the fungus grew on the dish, it left bacteria-free spots. When Fleming noticed this interesting new discovery, he isolated this substance and grew it. He found that this new culture was very effective and not very toxic. Fleming then published his findings in a journal. However, he only published writings about the potential benefits of penicillin and not any actual studies. Fleming’s work sparked the interest of many other scientists. Fleming’s findings opened the door for further research which began a study at Oxford University. The study was conducted by Howard Florey, Ernst Chain, and other colleagues. During their study they “turned penicillin from a laboratory curiosity into a lifesaving drug” (ACS.org). In order for the scientists to make it usable for humans, they first had to purify the drug. This took multiple tests to see exactly what the human body could handle. They did these tests on animals, which is how many medical tests are done when scientists are trying out a new drug. In 1940, Florey had a breakthrough in successfully medicating a mouse with penicillin and having it fight off a deadly infection. Shortly after penicillin was proven to be affective, there was a patient who was in dire need of a strong medication. His symptoms were deadly, but once injected with penicillin, he was better within days. Although effective, a drug is not worth producing unless there is an abundant source. Due to lack of supplies at the time, the patient died.  As penicillin’s effectiveness was proven, doctors and scientists recognized that it was useful and began to make more of it. Since then, there have been many success stories about it. 

The drug itself came around during World War II. This made the research and production of the drug slightly more complicated. In order for scientists to prove that the drug was as substantial as they believed it was, they were going to need to mass produce it for clinical trials. This was nearly impossible due to Britain being the chemical industry, given their participation in World War II. At this time, they were completely wrapped up in war fare and, therefore, would not be able to produce ample amounts of the drug in the time that it would be needed to complete trial runs. However, when companies were able to start producing larger amounts of penicillin, it was called for in high demands. These firms then received the supplies needed to start producing more and more penicillin. The companies were put in high priority so that the drugs could be produced. In fact, Albert Elder wrote to different companies and said, “You are urged to impress upon every worker in your plant that penicillin produced today will be saving the life of someone in a few days or curing the disease of someone now incapacitated. Put up slogans in your plant! Place notices in pay envelopes! Create an enthusiasm for the job down to the lowest worker in your plant.” The production of penicillin began to dramatically increase to about 6.8 trillion units being sold and cost about ten cents. In 1945, Fleming, Florey, and Chain were awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for the discovery of penicillin. Florey rewarded the United States and its efforts by saying, “too high a tribute cannot be paid to the enterprise and energy with which the American manufacturing firms tackled the large-scale production of the drug. Had it not been for their efforts there would certainly not have been sufficient if it were not for the discovery of penicillin, many deaths would have occurred during the World War” (ACS.org). Since the discovery of penicillin, many infections can be easily treated without concern. However, as time has gone on, bacteria are becoming more and more resistant to antibiotics and if new cures are not soon developed then simple sicknesses could potentially cause deadly infections. In my opinion, antibiotics will, fairly soon, no longer be a useful drug in treating infections and new medications need to be produced to treat these simple sicknesses.

This brings us to discuss antibiotic resistance and exactly what it is. The APUA, or the Alliance for the Prudent use of Antibiotics, defines antibiotic resistance as occurring when “an antibiotic has lost its ability to effectively control or kill bacterial growth; in other words, the bacteria are "resistant" and continue to multiply in the presence of therapeutic levels of an antibiotic.” This means that the antibiotic does not kill the harmful bacteria and, therefore, the bacteria will continue to reproduce. One of the most common causes for antibiotic resistance would be the way that people misuse them. Many people overuse them because doctors so commonly prescribe them to treat simple sicknesses. Doctors need to be more cautious when they are prescribing these medications and they need to carefully consider the potential factor of antibiotic resistance. Another problem that causes antibiotic resistance is the way that people use them. Many people will be prescribed an antibiotic and take it whenever they feel like it and will not follow the instructions on the label. They then go back to the doctor wondering why they aren’t feeling better or why the medicine hasn’t worked. This is because antibiotics have to be taken at a certain time every day. This has certainly happened to me before when I have been prescribed antibiotics. I am one of those people who will often forget when I need to take my medicine. Therefore, when I do not take it at a certain time, I assume that it is okay to skip that day and just continue with it the next day. Little did I know, this could be causing my body to build up resistance to the medicine. When people do not take the medication as directed, the bacteria are allowed time to grow back and then become to resistant. 

While antibiotic resistance is considered to be inevitable, there are some ways that are suggested that can help delay antibiotic resistance. One of these ways is to only use antibiotics to treat bacterial infections, NOT viral infections. When people take these medicines for a viral infection, the virus is never actually killed. Instead, the medicine will actually give the bacteria “a taste” of what it’s like which means that if a person takes the medication again, they will be more susceptible to antibiotic resistance. Another way to delay antibiotic resistance is to use more than one drug to treat the infection. If one specific medication does not work, the solution would be to take a different medication. This is because taking the same medication, but as a stronger dose, will not treat the infection. Reversely, it will only cause the bacteria to become more resistant. Potentially, antibiotics could still have a beneficial effect if people used them properly and take them as directed. 

While antibiotics may seem to do a lot of good and be useful in treating infections, the world is approaching a time when antibiotics are no longer going to work. According to Complete Wellness Report, “The biggest fear is that in the coming years a bacterium could spread throughout the world and could give citizens a variety of untreatable infections.” In China, scientists have recently found a new mutation that helps to cause antibiotic resistance. This mutation is called the MCR-1 gene. This gene is known to affect the antibiotic called Colistin. The MCR-1 gene prevents the antibiotic from killing bacteria and has known to affect at least 16 patients. Is it a very concerning factor that this gene will spread to other bacteria and that many more antibiotics will be affected. If this happens, the world may enter era much like that of the pre-antibiotic time. 

As time goes on and antibiotics continue to build up resistance, a solution must evolve. So, as the world is changing, scientists and researchers are trying to come up with new techniques to treat infections rather than using antibiotics. People must understand that at some point, antibiotics will not work anymore. Bacteria will become resistant and there is no way to stop it. Therefore, there has to be an alternative. One new way that scientists have come up with is using something called bacteriophages. Bacteriophages are enzymes found in our bodies that are bacteria-killing viruses. These phages are able to penetrate a bacterium’s cell wall and inject a substance that kills the bacteria and turns into a phage. Scientists wanted to try this treatment out so they conducted an experiment by applying the enzyme onto different skin lesions. These lesions were ones that tested positive for a bacterial infection called S. aureus. They found that, after about a week or so, the bacteriophage had successfully killed the bacteria. In my opinion, this seems to be a very useful alternative. This is because we already have bacteriophages in our bodies and it doesn’t take much for them to work. Also, this is very proactive because scientists say that “it’s very unlikely to encourage the emergence of resistance because it works independently from the host’s metabolism (IFL Science).” This means that the bacteriophages will most likely not build up any sort of resistance. 

Another new way to treat infections would be using something called a peptide, or mini-protein. This type of treatment is used to treat and prevent abscesses. Abscesses are “bacterial-induced lesions that are responsible for 3.2 million emergency room visits every year in the United States (Science Daily)” Normally, to treat an abscess, the infected tissue would have to be drained or cut. This is because antibiotics hardly ever work in treating them. This new technique in using peptides is different from anything done before. Bob Hancock conducted this study on abscesses along with his colleagues at UBC. Hancock found that the bacteria found in abscesses grow because they are triggered by stress. They first conducted their study on mice by using a peptide called DJK-5. This peptide was able to interfere with the bacteria and was then able to heal the abscess. Hancock believes that this peptide technique works even better than antibiotics ever have. To me, this solution seems very effective. It cuts out using antibiotics and works just as well, if not even better. 

Lastly, a third alternative to treating antibiotics would be using something called gene-editing enzymes. This is by using something called CRISPR-Cas9 system which is a gene-editing technique. It allows scientists to edit parts of a genome by altering DNA sequences. This technique is a two-part system. The first part uses an enzyme called Cas-9. This enzyme cuts strands of DNA so that DNA can be added or removed. The next part of the system is called guide RNA, or gRNA. This is made up of a pre-designed sequence that will guide the Cas-9 enzyme to the correct part of the genome. This allows the Cas-9 to cut in genome when it is supposed to. When the Cas-9 enzyme gets to the correct part of the DNA, it will cut across the DNA strands. This triggers the cell to recognize that the DNA is damaged and needs to be repaired. This introduces the mutation in the DNA which will kill invaders such as bacteria. This is a very complex, yet innovative way to go about treating infections. While it may take some time to fully understand the whole process, this is a great way to treat bacterial infections. 

For the last part of my paper, I will write about how these techniques need to be spread to the world and how to reach out to the public.

I will also write my conclusion to wrap everything up. 