Whether for an ear infection or something more serious, chances are we have all had to take antibiotics at one point in our lives. Despite this regular use of antibiotics, few people know where they come from or that our overuse of these drugs are causing some serious problems in our aquatic environment.
Antibiotics come from the chemical warfare that occurs between microscopic organisms that have developed natural defenses to protect themselves from other microscopic organisms. For example, penicillin, one of the earliest and most widely used antibiotics, was discovered when Sir Alexander Fleming observed that mold (Penicillium notatum) produced a natural substance that destroyed bacteria (Staphylococcus aureus) in 1928. Since this discovery, hundreds of these bacteria-killing substances have been discovered and many are synthesized and mass produced as our own personal weapon against disease causing bacteria.
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