Isolation and biological characterisation of plant-derived chemicals for antibacterial purposes in food animals and humans
type: CreativeWork
description: New diseases requiring medical intervention are continually emerging whilst known diseases remain a constant threat due to continual mutation in their genome. This recurrent metamorphosis makes treatment more difficult due to the constant change. An example of which would be the emergence of many antibiotic resistant strains of the methicillin resistant Staphylococcus aureus which is a worldwide epidemic. Pathogens such Listeria monocytogenes, Escherichia coli and Staphylococcus aureus have been the source of a variety of human and animal diseases resulting in economic losses. The ease with which these pathogens adapt to antibacterial remedies means that many antibacterial remedies are rendered ineffective months after their first introduction. The discovery of penicillin marked the beginning of decisive treatment for bacterial infections. However, the extensive use of antibiotics in modern agricultural food production has been the subject of increasing public concern, particularly when it has been linked to the continuous emergence of resistant bacteria; which can transfer resistant genes from animals to humans via the food chain. Recently the use of antibiotic growth promoters for the prevention of animal disease and growth promotion was banned in the EU as a part of measures geared toward preventing emergence of resistance to antibiotics especially those used in human medicine. This EU-wide ban has created a gap and led to a new urgency in the search for safe replacements due to the importance of antibacterial growth promoters in food/animal farming. Examination of trends in antibiotic discovery shows that the majority of the antibiotics in clinical use until now are from natural origin, a trend which is not about to change quickly; as other sources of antibiotics, (synthetic) have failed to produce significant new drugs to keep up with the rate of emergence of resistant bacterial strains. As a result, there has been a renewed interest in the discovery of antibio…
abstract: New diseases requiring medical intervention are continually emerging whilst known diseases remain a constant threat due to continual mutation in their genome. This recurrent metamorphosis makes treatment more difficult due to the constant change. An example of which would be the emergence of many antibiotic resistant strains of the methicillin resistant Staphylococcus aureus which is a worldwide epidemic. Pathogens such Listeria monocytogenes, Escherichia coli and Staphylococcus aureus have been the source of a variety of human and animal diseases resulting in economic losses. The ease with which these pathogens adapt to antibacterial remedies means that many antibacterial remedies are rendered ineffective months after their first introduction. The discovery of penicillin marked the beginning of decisive treatment for bacterial infections. However, the extensive use of antibiotics in modern agricultural food production has been the subject of increasing public concern, particularly when it has been linked to the continuous emergence of resistant bacteria; which can transfer resistant genes from animals to humans via the food chain. Recently the use of antibiotic growth promoters for the prevention of animal disease and growth promotion was banned in the EU as a part of measures geared toward preventing emergence of resistance to antibiotics especially those used in human medicine. This EU-wide ban has created a gap and led to a new urgency in the search for safe replacements due to the importance of antibacterial growth promoters in food/animal farming. Examination of trends in antibiotic discovery shows that the majority of the antibiotics in clinical use until now are from natural origin, a trend which is not about to change quickly; as other sources of antibiotics, (synthetic) have failed to produce significant new drugs to keep up with the rate of emergence of resistant bacterial strains. As a result, there has been a renewed interest in the discovery of antibio…
author: Ngwoke, Kenneth
language: eng
date published: 2010-7
date modified: 2026-07-24T03:55:12Z
provider: Queen's University Belfast
publisher: Networked Digital Library of Theses and Dissertations
type: WebPage
source organization: Queen's University Belfast