The Rise and Fall of Antibiotics
They started out packing a punch, but antibiotics are not invincible.
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 Brown Brothers |
1867English surgeon Joseph Lister describes his use of carbolic acid as an antiseptic during surgery, eradicating microbes and preventing infection. |
1876German physician Robert Koch publishes work proving that bacteria cause disease, with anthrax bacilli as Exhibit A; Koch’s four postulates for determining the cause of new microbial diseases are still used today. |
 Bettmann/Corbis |
1928Scottish biologist Alexander Fleming finds that a Penicillium notatum mold growing on a lab plate full of Staphylococcus kills the bacteria around it. He names the active substance penicillin, but because it’s so difficult to purify large amounts, he drops the research. |
1932
In a lab at Bayer in Germany, Gerhard Domagk discovers that a sulfa drug, later called Prontosil, defeats streptococci in mice and is later found to work in humans.
 Dennis Kunkel/Phototake |
1939French microbiologist Rene Dubos discovers gramicidin in soil, ultimately the primary source of many antibiotics; Oxford scientists Howard Florey and Ernst Chain figure out how to produce substantial quantities of penicillin, leading to its industrial production. |
 Frans Lanting/Corbis |
1944-68Most major classes of antibiotics, including the aminoglycosides, cephalosporins and tetracyclines, are introduced. |
2000
After a number of years, the FDA approves a new class of antibiotics, oxazolidinones, for clinical use.
2003
The FDA approves a second new class of antibiotics, lipopeptides.
2007
With antibiotic resistance on the rise, the Strategies to Address Antimicrobial Resistance (STAAR) Act is introduced in Congress.
 Digital Vision Photography/Veer |
2008The Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions considers incentives such as federal grants, tax credits and data exclusivity protection to encourage pharmaceutical companies to develop new antibiotics. |
