Genetics and Pharmacology

In the last decade, the number of prescriptions for antibiotics has increases. Even though, antibiotics are helpful, an excess amount of antibiotics can be dangerous. Quite often antibiotics are wrongly prescribed to cure viruses when they are meant to target bacteria. Antibiotics are a type of medicine that is prone to kill microorganisms, or bacteria. By examining the PBS documentary Hunting the Nightmare Bacteria and the article “U.S. government taps GlaxoSmithKline for New Antibiotics” by Ben Hirschler as well as a few other articles can help depict the problem that is of doctors prescribing antibiotics wrongly or excessively, which can led to becoming harmful to the body.

Antibiotics:- antibiotics are medication which destroy or slow down the growth of bacteria, they are used to treat infections which are caused by bacteria. Most of the time the body’s immune system can fight off bacteria but in cases in which the body cannot antibiotics are used to destroy them. Antibiotics are either given orally, applied to the skin in ointment form or injected, this all depends on the type of infection the body is currently trying to fight off, for example skin infections are treated with ointment, oral antibiotics are used to fight of moderate infections and injective antibiotics are most commonly used in

exception of identical twins, DNA fingerprinting is a reliable method used to determine the parents of a given baby. DNA fingerprints can be derived from restriction

Antibiotics, composed of microorganisms such as streptomycin and penicillin, kill other infectious microorganisms in the human body. At one point, antibiotics were considered to have “basically wiped out infection in the United States”, but due to their overuse and evolutionary

Antibiotics are inarguably one of the greatest advances in medical science of the past century. Although the first natural antibiotic Penicillin was not discovered until 1928 by Scottish biologist Alexander Flemming, evidence exists that certain plant and mold growths were used to treat infections in ancient Egypt, ancient India, and classical Greece (Forrest, 1982). In our modern world with the advent of synthetic chemistry synthetic antibiotics like Erithromycin and its derivative Azithromycin have been developed. Antibiotics have many uses including the treatment of bacterial and protozoan infection, in surgical operations and prophylactically to prevent the development of an infection. Through these applications, antibiotics have saved countless lives across the world and radically altered the field of medicine. Though a wonderful and potentially lifesaving tool, antibiotic use is not without its disadvantages. Mankind has perhaps been too lax in regulation and too liberal in application of antibiotics and growing antibiotic resistance is the price we must now pay. A recent study showed that perhaps 70% of bacterial infections acquired during hospital visits in the United States are resistant to at least one class of antibiotic (Leeb, 2004). Bacteria are not helpless and their genetic capabilities have allowed them to take advantage of society’s overuse of antibiotics, allowing them to develop

Absorption – “How the drugs enter the circulation process through the body, and how they resist general breakdown by the stomach, liver, and the intestines”. Some of the factors that affect the absorption of drugs in the body is as follows, “acidity of the stomach, Physiochemical properties, Presence of food in the stomach or intestine, and Routes of administration”,

The disclosure by Alexander Fleming of penicillin opened up a totally new time of chemotherapy. Antibiotics are the chemotherapeutic specialists that kill or inhabit the development of microorganisms. These substance operators are utilized to treat malady by wrecking pathogenic microorganisms or restraining their development at focus sufficiently low to enough to avoid undesirable harm to the host (Dafale et al., 2016).

Biology and genetics influence substance abuse and addiction. According to Prescott, Madden, and Stallings, (2006), a number of obstacles confront researchers considering genetic influences on substance-related behavior. Preliminary there is a significant discrepancy across civilizations and archival periods in the prevalence and classifications of substance use (i.e., cocaine, alcohol, tobacco, cocaine, or heroin). A person’s biology is a determination in the addiction of risk. For example, Prescott, Madden, and Stallings (2006) assert many studies indicate increased rates of alcoholism among adopted males; although he is not influenced by his own biological parents (p. 475; see Cadoret et al. 1985; see Cloninger et al. 1981). It has been suggested that twins (e.g., adults) are most likely to inherit smoking dependence. Various studies throughout countries study variables (e.g., age and gender) according to Prescott, Madden, and Stallings (2006).

The article “Bacterial snack attack deactivates a drug” by Christian Jobin discusses how the presence of certain bacteria among cancer cells can pose complications with chemotherapy. Jobin begins the article by giving a brief explanation of the importance of bacteria naturally found in the human environment. Jobin continues to explain the significance of these bacteria writing “our bacterial population contains millions of genes encoding enzymes that can process substances that have been derived from nutrients or the environment, or that have been administered as drugs.” Therefore, bacteria play a very crucial role in maintaining normal body functions.

Based on ¨Principles of Pharmacokinetics¨, ¨pharmacokinetics is the study of absorption, distribution, metabolism, and excretion¨ (Ratain 2003). In other words, the drug's pharmacokinetics determines the duration and the intensity of the effect on the body. Absorption rate can be affected by the drug itself, such as: rate of dissolution, lipid solubility, and route (VandeWaa 2016). The absorption process starts by the route of admission, in this case oral. The oral, or by mouth, route of administration for drugs is the most common. When a pill is taken by mouth, it travels down to the stomach, were most pills dissolve. While in the stomach, some kinds of pills are absorbed into the stomach lining, but some move on to the small intestine. Every pill eventually ends up in the bloodstream and circulate through the body to tissues and organs (Howell 2017). Once passive diffusion occurs, the cells absorb the molecules of the medicine. Then, the molecules of the medicine will exit the cells and travel in the bloodstream for the distribution process.

According to Swales, a discourse community is deemed distinct for its members share a common goal, for how they utilize specific genres and lexis, and how they provide a specific kind of information to a specific audience. Genre are the means of communicating a specific kind of information to a specific audience. Anne Beaufort shares that in order for a “product” to be competent conceptual comprehension of her five knowledge domains is necessary (Beaufort 7). These five knowledge domains are: discourse community knowledge, subject matter knowledge, genre knowledge, rhetorical knowledge, and writing process knowledge. For the discourse community discussed in my extended writing project, the Molecular Medicine and Genetics community, a few commonly utilized genre are analyzed. These genres include research articles, research reports, and lab notebooks.

Antibiotics have always been one of the most reliable drugs in medical history, making them a saving grace for those who suffer from bacterial caused illnesses. Although many types of drugs are used to cure diseases, are antibiotics actually capable of completely “curing” a patient? Many people find antibiotics to be a reliable source when it comes to fighting of an infection, however, when someone either overuses or misuses the prescription of antibiotics, harsh side effects may occur. One of the main problems that comes with the abuse of antibiotics being the resistance of them for future use. This becomes a major problem when further down the road a severe illness is accumulated by someone, but cannot be treated due to the resistance.

Before blood continues to the heart, it must first travel through the liver to metabolize the substances from the GI tract. The carbohydrates that are in the food processing through the GI tract that is then transported to the liver is where it creates, stores, and releases glucose. At this point, the liver helps maintain a normal glucose levels within the blood flowing through the hepatic system. If sugar levels (glucose) were to start getting too high, the pancreas will start producing insulin to help the liver maintain the glucose levels. The drugs that the GI tract absorbs usually loses their potency before it reaches circulation of the blood because the liver processes and metabolizes them. At rest the liver consumes about 20% of total body

These mutations, no matter what process that has led to their occurrence, block the action of antibiotics by interfering with their mechanism of action (1). Currently, antibiotics attack bacteria through one of two mechanisms. In both mechanisms the antibiotic enters the microbe and interferes with production of the components needed to form new bacterial cells. Some antibiotics act on the cell membrane, causing increased permeability and leakage of cell contents. Other antibiotics interfere with protein synthesis in cells. They block one or more of the steps involved in the transformation of nucleic acids into proteins.

Oral. Tablets, liquids, and capsules are swallowed. The antibiotic is released in the small intestine to be absorbed into the bloodstream. Troches, or lozenges, are allowed to dissolve in the mouth, where the antibiotic is absorbed through the mucous membrane. Parenteral.