Antibiotic
antibiotic A chemical agent that is produced synthetically or by an organism that is harmful to another organism. It is used to combat disease. Either topically or by ingestion, in humans, animals, and plants. It can be made from a mold or bacterium and kills or slows the growth of other microbes, in particular bacteria. Penicillin, one of the most famous antibiotics, was accidentally discovered by the British bacteriologist sir ALEXANDER FLEMING in 1928.
Antibiotic resistance can occur when antibiotics are used repetitively. While most of the targeted bacteria are killed by a dose of antibiotics, some escape death, and these remaining bacteria have or develop a genetic resistance to the antibiotic. Unfortunately, this resistance trait can be passed on to their offspring.
