A Brief History of Bacteria

The following sections are included:

• Foreword
• Preface
• Contents

In nature, there are animals and plants of all forms and colors. But do you know there is also a mysterious group of tiny individuals, too small to be seen with the naked eye? These are called microorganisms. Microorganisms are tiny creatures that are less than 0.1 mm in size. There are many types of microorganisms. What people hear, see, and get in contact with are virus, mold, yeast, and bacteria. In this chapter, you are introduced to one member of the microorganisms’ world — bacteria.

If I asked you, do you like bacteria? Are bacteria your friend or foe? Probably the first word that comes to your mind is “disease”. Indeed, many terrible diseases such as plague, cholera, and anthrax have their inseparable cause in bacteria. However, you may not be aware that not all bacteria have fierce faces, sharp claws, and a malicious nature. Many bacteria are “gentle and lovely”. In addition, under certain circumstances, those malicious bacteria can become our “intimate ally” after being reformed by scientists. They can be the crucial weapons for us to defeat disease and protect health. Still many bacteria make great contributions to industry, agriculture, and environmental protection. There are two sides to bacteria. When they are positioned in the proper place, they can be our friend; once they walk in the wrong place, they become our enemy. Therefore, bacteria are both our friend and our foe (Fig. 2-1).

What happens in the invisible front when pathogens invade the human body? Now, let us explore the smokeless immunity battle of invasion and anti-invasion.

The following sections are included:

• Antimicrobial Treatment during the Stone Age
• The Great Contribution of Immunological Prevention
• The Discovery of Sulfonamides
• The Invincible Penicillin
• Significance of Streptomycin
• Actinomycetes—the most Important Resource for Antibiotics Production
• The Golden era of Antibiotics Treatment

The following sections are included:

• “Strategy and Tactics” for Drugs to Kill Bacteria
• Bacteria’s Fight Back Against the Drugs — Resistance

After the invasion of human pathogens, whether it will lead to human disease or recovery from the disease depends on three factors, the pathogen, the human body, and the use of antimicrobial agents, as shown in Fig. 6-1. Pathogens undoubtedly play an important role in the disease onset, but it cannot decide the whole process. Human body’s reactivity, immune status, and defenses are also important to the occurrence, development, and prognosis of the disease. When the body’s defense system is predominant, we can defeat the pathogen and the pathogen will not cause the disease, or we can quickly recover from the disease. Bacteriostatic or bactericidal effect of antimicrobial drugs is the external factor to stop the progression of the disease and promote the rehabilitation. It is in favor of complete elimination of pathogens and recovery. Things always have two sides; contradictions are continually transformed. Under certain conditions, the bacteria can develop drug resistance, so the drug will lose antibacterial activity. A drug has the primary effect in a treatment, but it may also affect the health of the patients or cause treatment failure if not properly used.

The following section is included:

• Index