Penicillin To Build The Bacterial Wall

Penicillin is a mysterious drug that has been used for decades. It attacks enzymes that build the bacteria’s cell wall. Once they break through, the bacteria dies and we can recover from infection.
In recent decades, some bacteria have developed a resistance to penicillin and other antibiotics. This causes a risk to human health. Scientists continue trying to find new antibiotics but they still don’t know how the old ones work. Scientist Thomas Bernhardt and his partners have added something to the research. They found that penicillin not only attacks the bacterial wall, but also cause a toxic malfunction in the wall building materials which leads to a wall being destroyed right after its built. This depletes the cells resources so then it dies.
This shows that the antibiotics don’t just attack the enzyme, but turn its leftover activity becomes toxic. Bernhardt said, "I think it's important in understanding how the drug works, but it also teaches us fundamentally about how bacteria build a wall so we can find news way we might throw a wrench in that process." …show more content…
The drugs stop the bacteria from correctly building their cell walls. There are two parts to the wall-assembly process. They are synthesizing new strands of linked sugars. Then linking them into the matrix that is growing. Beta-lactam drugs work by preventing the enzymes that build cross-links form doing their job, weakening the wall. The wall won’t stay intact, so the bacterial cell explodes and dies. The framework of the bacteria vs.penicillin battle is recognized, but the details of the molecules were missing. What happens after prevention of the cross-linking process to cause the death of the bacteria